


Torn

by ChloeOgradyXo



Category: Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, Chicago PD (TV)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-29
Updated: 2019-12-29
Packaged: 2021-02-25 02:54:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 14
Words: 28,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22008820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChloeOgradyXo/pseuds/ChloeOgradyXo
Summary: Alexandria "Lexi" Dawson is Antonio Dawson's middle child. She's an all round caring, loving, kind girl but one day, that all changes and no-one knows why.Read on to follow her story!
Comments: 1
Kudos: 17





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Please note that Shaylynn Voight in this story belongs to RonnaSweeney51317 on Wattpad (my stories are also on Wattpad)

A young girl walks up the stairs to Intelligence with Antonio Dawson and straight to the break room.

“How’s she dealing with things?” Adam asks Antonio.

“It’s hard to tell.” Antonio shakes his head. “She won’t speak to me. She won’t speak to Eva. She won’t speak to Diego. She won’t speak to Dr Charles. She used to tell me everything and now-”

“What she went through was unimaginable.” Jay says. “The best thing you can do- the best thing we can all do is be there for her, whether she wants our help or not.”

_**One year earlier…** _

“I don’t care if you were defending yourself. There is never an excuse to punch someone in the face!” Antonio shouts at his daughter, Alexandria. They are both standing in the break room in the Intelligence Unit. Everyone looks in at them. “Especially at school!”

“I only punched him in the face because he was an objectifying, misogynistic, sexist dickhead!” Alexandria shouts back. “Do you know how many girls he’s harassed in our school?! He tried to pin me against a locker, I pushed him back, he got angry, tried to pin me again so I punched him in the face. Like you taught me to do!”

“You should have gone to a teacher.” Antonio sighs.

“I _have_ been to a teacher! I’ve been to every damn teacher in that school! They couldn’t give a shit!” Alexandria states. “You know I’d never punch someone unless they deserved it or if they were trying to hurt me or Diego. _He_ deserved it.”

“Lexi, you’re an intelligent, headstrong girl. Use your words.”

“Right.” Alexandria laughs. “So I should say to a guy that is about to feel me up, ‘you don’t need to do this. Women and girls aren’t objects for you to use and discard!’?” She adds. “If a guy like him wants to feel a girl up, he will feel a girl up! Our principal’s the same! Why do you think I took matters into my own hands.”

“What do you mean?” Antonio questions.

“He’s an objectifying, misogynistic, sexist, peadophile.”

“You need to be careful what you accuse people of, Lexi. That’s a serious allegation.” Antonio warns her.

“He looks at girls like he wants to feel them up. His eyes filled with lust. Not once have I heard of a boy being called into his office. Some girls, when they’ve come out of his office, have gone home and never come back to school. Girls that do nothing wrong. Girls that get the top grades.” Alexandria replies.

“He’s never-” Antonio starts to asks.

“God, no! Gross!” Alexandria exclaims. “If he tried to do anything like that to me you know exactly what would have happened.” There’s a few moments silence. “I’m not my mom, dad. I don’t pick a fight for no good reason. If I could have talked it out, I would have.” They’re interrupted by Jay opening the door.

“Sorry.” He apologises, he looks at Antonio. “We gotta roll. We have a case.” Antonio looks at Alexandria.

“Go home and calm down.” Antonio tells her. “I’ll sort this out.” He then walks off.

.

A few hours have gone by. Antonio walks into his apartment. He walks to Alexandria’s room, knocks on the door and opens it. He sees Alexandria sat at her desk doing some work. He walks in and sits in the spare chair by her desk.

“I know you would have never punched that guy unless he did something to you or Diego.” Antonio tells her. Alexandria looks up at him. “It just took me by surprise. You’ve never thrown a punch at anyone, but-”

“I know what you’re going to ask.” Alexandria interrupts her. “Why didn’t I speak to you sooner?” She sighs. “Do you remember my friend, Georgia?”

“She’s the one that moved to Boston a few months ago?”

“Yeah.” Alexandria nods. “She was one of the top students in the school. She was getting top grades, taking part in a lot of extracurriculars, she was on track for Harvard and Stanford scholarships. One day, out of the blue, Principal Lewis called her into his office. When she came out she was different. She didn’t tell me what had happened until a few days later. The same day she told me they were moving. She made me promise that I wouldn’t tell anyone because she’d been told that if she did tell anyone or go to the police then Lewis would kill her.” Antonio sighs. “I was trying to protect her.”

“I know you were.” Antonio nods. “You could have come to me. You should have come to me. We would have protected her.” Alexandria looks down. “Jay and Adam went to the school and arrested the principal. He’s at the district now and Hailey will be going into the school tomorrow to speak to all the girls. He’s not going to hurt anyone else.”

“You don’t know that.” Alexandria shakes her head looking back up. “You don’t know whether he’ll get charged or not.” She stands up. “I’m going for a run.” She walks to her closet and gets her running clothes out.

“Don’t go to the district.” Antonio tells her. Alexandria just looks at him and laughs. “Come on, Lexi. I know you, you’re going to go to the district and convince Voight to let you speak to your principal.”

“I’m just going on a run.” She shakes her head. Antonio raises an eyebrow. “I promise. I won’t go anywhere near the district.” Antonio keeps his eyebrow raised. “Or the school. I’ll go around the block a few times. I’ll be half an hour tops.”

“Half an hour.” Antonio repeats, standing up.

.

It’s been ten minutes. Alexandria is on her second lap around the block when she feels someone pull her into an alley and pin her against the wall. She sees it’s her school principal, Mark Lewis. He doesn’t see the weapon she’s holding.

“What did you say?” He asks.

“What do you mean?”

“What did you tell your father about me?” Mark snarls.

“Nothing.” Alexandria lies.

“Don’t lie to me.” He shakes his head. “You get picked up from school and less than a couple of hours later, I get arrested for sexual harassment and sexual assault. What did you say?”

“I already told you. Nothing.” She pushes him away. “Stay the hell away from me.” Mark’s face fills with anger. He grabs onto Alexandria and pulls her into him. “You may want to think twice about what you’re about to do. I’m assuming you’ve met Sergeant Voight. Well, he’s my dad’s boss. If anything happens to me, you’ll be finding yourself at the bottom of Lake Michigan.” Mark tightens his grip on her. “You think I’m kidding?" Mark moves his hand down to her crotch. At this, she makes a fist causing the blades the pop out of the weapon and jabs him in the stomach. He lets go of her and steps back, clutching his stomach. Alexandria takes a few steps back, looking at her shaking, bloodied hands as she does. She watches as Mark drops the ground. Acting on instinct, she drops the weapon, gets her phone out and dials 9-1-1 for an ambulance. Once she’s off the phone, she kneels down beside him and puts pressure on the wound. With the blades being at a length to cause fatal injury, there’s a lot of blood. Within a few minutes, the ambulance pulls into the alley and Emily Foster and Sylvie Brett jump out. They get the medical bags and the gurney and run up to Alexandria.

“Lexi?” Sylvie asks, noticing the young girl. She kneels down beside her whilst Emily kneels down opposite her. “What happened?” She takes over applying pressure.

“He erm- he tried to-” Alexandria stutters. Sylvie can see that she’s struggling.

“Hey, it’s okay. Why don’t you stand back?” She tells her. “Because you said it was an assault, the police are on their way, they’ll want to talk to you.” Alexandria nods, stands back and leans against the wall. Before Sylvie and Emily carry on treating Mark, Sylvie grabs onto her radio and asks for them to send Voight.

About five minutes pass. Emily and Sylvie are loading Mark into the ambulance when Voight arrive.

“Sylvie.” Voight gruffs. Sylvie turns to face him. “What happened?” Sylvie just nods towards Alexandria who is still stood against the wall but she’s talking to some patrol officers. “Thanks.” Voight nods. He walks over to them and tells the patrol officers that they can go. “Put your hands in your pockets.” He tells Alexandria, seeing that they are still shaking. She does as she’s told. He also sees that there is some blood on her face. “What happened?”

“I decided to go on a run. I was on my second lap of the block when I was pulled into this alley. It was Principal Lewis. He wanted to know what I told my dad about him. I pushed him away and tried to walk away. He pulled me back but this time, he pulled me into him and he erm- he tried to feel me up so I used that Tigerlady thing dad got me.” Alexandria explains.

“Where is it?” Voight asks her.

“On the floor somewhere. I dropped it so I could call 9-1-1.” She replies. Voight looks around and eventually spots it. He picks it up puts it into an evidence bag. “I didn’t know what else to do.” She shakes her head.

“You did the right thing.” Voight puts his hand on her shoulder. He brings her in for hug. “I’ll take you home and explain what happened to your dad.” They part. “Don’t talk about happened here to anyone unless it’s me or your dad. If any other detective comes to you, direct them to me. Okay?”

“Okay.” Alexandria nods.

.

Five minutes later, Alexandria walks back into the apartment with Voight. Antonio is sitting on the sofa watching TV. As soon as he sees the blood on his daughter’s face, he stands up.

“What happened?” He asks. Alexandria stays silent.

“I’m going to go and get cleaned up.” She says. She walks off into her bedroom.

“What happened?” Antonio asks once more.

“Lexi was pulled into an alley during her run. By Mark Lewis. He tried to feel her up so she used this.” Voight tells him, handing over the Tigerlady weapon. “She called 9-1-1 and tried to stem the bleeding by putting pressure on the wound. Sylvie Brett asked dispatch to get in contact with me.”

“Is Lexi okay?” Antonio questions, concerned.

“Yeah.” Voight nods. “She’s a bit shaken up but she wasn’t physically hurt.” Antonio sighs with relief. “I’m going to head to Med now, see what the news is. I’ll call you later to let you know what’s what.”

“Thanks.” Antonio smiles slightly. Voight nods and leaves. After five minutes, Alexandria walks out of her room. She has changed into an oversized jumper, black leggings and some fluffy socks and has put her hair into a messy bun. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” Alexandria nods. She walks over to Antonio and the both sit on the sofa. He brings her in so that her head is resting on his shoulder. “What if I’ve killed him?”

“You haven’t killed him, Lexi.” Antonio whispers. “Trust me.” He adds, stroking her head.

.

It’s nine am the next morning. Alexandria, who is wearing her running clothes, steps out of the elevator and onto the ICU floor at Chicago Med. She looks around trying to find the room that Mark is in. She hangs back for a few minutes before walking over to the room. Mark is lying in the bed, intubated. She sees Connor Rhodes standing next to the bed checking Mark’s pupils.

“Is he going to be okay?” She asks. Connor looks up at her. “Is he going to die?”

“Your father called the hospital, Lexi.” Connor says, putting the pen torch in his scrub top pocket. “He thought you’d be coming here.” He walks to the doorway of the room.

“I just want to know if he’s going to be okay.” Alexandria responds. “Dr Rhodes.” She adds, looking at the name on his scrubs. “Did I kill this man?” Connor sees the tears in her eyes.

“No.” He shakes his head. “You didn’t. He’s going to be fine. The only reason he’s on the ICU is because he had a reaction to some medication we gave him.” He continues. “You were protecting yourself.” He sees that Alexandria is giving him a confused look. “Voight came and spoke to us about what happened.

“Right.” Alexandria sighs. “Of course he did.” She rubs her forehead. Connor notices that her breathing is irregular and her skin is clammy.

“Are you okay?” Connor queries. “You don’t look so good.”

“Yeah.” Alexandria nods. “I was on my run when I decided to come here. Speaking of which, I better get going.” She turns around to walk away.

“At least let me check you over.” Connor stops her.

“I’ll be fine.” Alexandria turns back around. “I have a tendency to push myself too much. That’s the Dawson in me. We push ourselves to do the best we can. My mom’s side of the family, not so much.”

“So you’re glad you’ve got your dad’s genes?” Connor smiles. Alexandria looks at him skeptically.

“I know what you’re doing.” She states. “You’re stalling me so that I pass out in front of you therefore making it your duty to check me over.” Connor just shakes his head and laughs. “You’re not the first doctor to do it.” Alexandria replies. “So don’t worry.” There’s a few moments of silence. “Before I go, I know that you think I’m crazy for going running after what happened.”

“I don’t think that.” Connor lies but Alexandria can see right through him.

“Dr Rhodes, I grew up with a mom who would lie through her teeth to me. Saying that my dad didn’t want me. Saying that dad said this about me. Dad said that about me. She has lied to the police. She has lied to the court and _now_ she’s in prison.” Alexandria raises an eyebrow. “You are a terrible liar.” She adds. “Running helps me clear my head. It helps me destress. So does boxing and swimming. I needed to clear my head after what happened yesterday and running is more convenient for me.” She looks at her fitbit. She ignores that it’s showing her heartrate to be 130, which is unusual for her, and looks at the time. “I really do have to go. Thanks for the concern but I promise you, I’m fine.” She turns on her heels and walks towards the elevator. Connor watches as she presses the call button. He walks over to the nurses station, picks up a file and starts on some paperwork when all a sudden a nurse calls him.

“Dr Rhodes!”


	2. Chapter 2

Connor looks up and sees Lexi on the floor with a few nurses surrounding her. He closes the file, puts it back behind the nurse's station and runs over to them.

"Pulse is fast." One of the nurses informs him just as some orderlies run over to them with a gurney.

"Let's get her onto the gurney and down to the ED." Connor says. They all lift Lexi over to the gurney. "Call ahead to the ED, let them know we're on our way down. Get them to have an ECG and Echo on standby." A nurse nods, runs over to the Nurse's Station and calls down to the ED whilst Connor and the remaining nurses wheel Lexi into the lift.

.

In the ED, Will is waiting by the elevators. The elevator opens and Connor and the nurses rush out wheeling Lexi. Lexi is now conscious.

"This is Alexandria Dawson. She's about seventeen-years-old. She was on the ICU visiting a patient but as she was leaving, she collapsed. Queried cardiac event. Going by her Fitbit watch, her pulse is 130. She was unconscious for about a minute." Connor tells Will as they wheel her to a treatment room.

"I'm fine. Just let me go home." Lexi says.

"I'm not sure your dad would be happy with that." Connor shakes his head as they line the gurney up with the bed. "Lexi, can you move over to the bed?" Lexi does so and some nurses take the gurney away. As Connor hooks Lexi up to the monitors he looks at Will. "Her dad's Antonio Dawson. He's on his way." Will walks to beside Lexi's bedside and looks at the monitors.

"SATs are 96." He says. He gets the intranasal oxygen cannula, sits it in her nostrils and tucks part of the tube behind her ears. "How long have you been feeling breathless, Lexi?" Will asks the young girl.

"I don't know." Lexi shrugs. "A couple hours, maybe? I've been out running."

"Lexi, this is definitely not a reaction from running." Connor tells the teenager as he attaches the ECG leads to her chest. "Your breathing got worse after you saw Mr Lewis on the ICU." He starts the ECG. "I believe that you have something called stress cardiomyopathy. The stress of what you've been through in the past 24 hours has caused your heart to enlarge and weaken. It's not common for people of your age to have it but it can still happen."

"Dr Rhodes is going to carry out a few tests to figure out if that's the case." Will adds. Lexi looks at him. "One is the test he's doing now. That's an ECG. It's measuring the electrical activity of your heart. Another test he'll do is an Echo which is an ultrasound of your heart. That will enable Dr Rhodes to see the shape of your heart and whether the valves are working properly. We'll also do an MRI of your heart to rule out anything else that might be causing the cardiomyopathy."

"What's the treatment for this cardiomyopathy?" Lexi questions, looking at Connor.

"Unfortunately, there isn't any." Connor shakes his head. "There isn't even a proper way to prevent it. We monitor you and then we keep an eye on you by having you in for regular checkups for a few months." He then pulls over the Echocardiogram machine. "I'm going to do to the Echo now." He picks up the transducer and puts a slither of gel on it. He moves her top down slightly. "This is going to be a little cold." He places the transducer on her chest and moves it around. After a couple of minutes, he removes the transducer, wipes the gel off and puts it down and then wipes the gel off her chest. "The valves are all working as they should. I am seeing some weakness and your heart is definitely enlarged." Connor nods. "So I'll send you for an MRI to see if there's a physiological cause and then we'll get you admitted to our cardiac ward."

"Thank you." Lexi smiles.

"No problem." Connor smiles back. Antonio then walks into the room.

"What happened?" Antonio asks, worried.

"She collapsed." Will tells him. "We've run some tests and Lexi has something we call cardiomyopathy."

"What does that mean?" Antonio questions.

"Her heart has become enlarged and weakened." Connor says, ripping the finished ECG trace from the machine. "We often call it broken heart syndrome."

"Broken heart syndrome?" Antonio raises an eyebrow.

"What happened yesterday no doubt caused her immense stress. It was obviously quite scary and traumatic." Connor adds.

"Sitting right here." Lexi sighs.

"Sorry, Lexi." Connor apologises, looking at the teen. He then looks back at Antonio. "Yesterday's events would have caused a spike in adrenaline which changes the way the heart works and I believe seeing Mr Lewis on the ICU released more adrenaline and her heart literally couldn't take it anymore."

"We're going to send her for a cardiac MRI so we can rule out any physiological cause." Will states.

"But she's going to be okay?" Antonio asks.

"She's going to be fine." Connor nods. "We'll admit her to our cardiac ward for a couple of days to keep an eye on her and then we'll have her in for regular checkups, maybe two or three appointments a month for three months to start off with."

"We'll be back when she's had her MRI." Will tells Antonio.

"Thank you." Antonio smiles and nods. The doctors leave and Antonio walks to Lexi's bedside.

"I know I shouldn't have come here." Lexi states. "But I just wanted to see if he's okay." Antonio sits on the stool beside the bed and strokes her head.

"You have a good heart." He tells her. "But you've got to start thinking about yourself and how things will affect you and your health and your _life_. You're the type of person that will push a stranger out of the way if they're about to get run over by a bus."

"I get that from you." Lexi smiles.

.

It has been a few hours. Connor hasn't been able to find any other cause for Lexi's heart and so he has admitted her to the cardiac ward. Connor walks into her room to check on her. He sees that Antonio isn't with her.

"Hey, Lexi." He smiles. "Where's your dad?"

"He went to get some coffee." Lexi replies. "He'll be back in a couple of minutes."

"How are you feeling?" Connor asks her.

"Better." Lexi nods. "I don't feel breathless anymore and my heart doesn't feel like it's going to be sucked out of my chest."

"That's good." Connor smiles. "I'm just going to do a repeat ECG to check the activity of your heart." He tells her as he picks the leads up. He attaches the leads to the pad on her chest. Once they're all attached, he turns the ECG machine on. "This will be a routine test over the next few days, I'm afraid."

"I figured it would be." Lexi sighs.

"Your dad mentioned that you're not a big fan of hospitals." Connor states. "But he never said the reason. Do you mind if I ask why?"

"I've had my fair share of admissions." Lexi starts. "I was a premie. I was born at 24 weeks because my mom was an addict. I was born addicted to cocaine and heroin. I had health problems as a kid so I had to go into hospital a lot. I had infections, asthma, meningitis when I was 6. Broken arm when I was 7. Broken leg the same year. Meningitis again when I was 12. It's all in my chart." She explains. "The list of admissions is a mile long." She adds, laughing. "My dad is super protective. If I so much as get a cough, my dad calls the doctor and gets me an appointment."

"That must be annoying." Connor laughs.

"It can be." Lexi nods. "But I can see why he does it. It drove my step-mom crazy too. My step-mom always treated me like one of her own, despite the fact that I was the result of an affair - it's complicated."

"What about your mom?" Connor questions.

"She OD'd when I was a couple of months out of the ICU, so I was about 6 or 7 months." Lexi replies. "My dad had come to collect me for the weekend. He knocked the door a few times, when no one answered, he tried the door and found it open so he walked in. My mom was on the sofa, dead, with a needle in her arm. I was in my nursery, on the floor. She was changing my diaper when she obviously decided that she needed a fix." There's a few minutes silence. "My dad and I are close, that's all that matters." The ECG machine beeps, signalling the end of the trace. Connor takes the leads from her chest and puts them back and rips the trace from the machine.

"Your electrical activity is improving." Connor nods, examining the trace. "You have short, quick bursts of arrhythmia, but that's normal." He folds the paper with the trace on. "You may be out of here earlier than we said." Antonio then walks in.

"Is everything okay?" Antonio questions, seeing Connor. He walks to beside Lexi's bed.

"Everything's good." Connor nods. "I was just telling Lexi that she may be out of here earlier than we said." He adds. "Her heart electrical activity is improving. It hasn't improved enough for us to discharge her yet but we will keep on doing ECGs and Echos every few hours or so to monitor her progress."

"That's good." Antonio smiles. "Thanks, doc."

"No problem." Connor nods before walking out. Antonio sits down in the chair next to Lexi's bed.

"I called Eva, she's going to pop by with Diego later." Antonio tells her. "She said that she'll pack you a bag with some clothes and your laptop and phone charger. They'll be here in about an hour or two."

"Thanks." Lexi smiles.

"I've spoken to Voight and he's given me a couple of weeks off until you're better."

"You didn't have to do that, dad." Lexi shakes her head.

"Yes." Antonio nods. "I did." He holds her hand. "I know you don't like being admitted to hospital and you'll probably try and leave." He continues. "Someone needs to be here to stop you." He jokes.

"Ha-ha. Very funny." Lexi laughs, sarcastically. "But seriously, go into work. I know you're protective because of my medical history but you can't keep calling in to get days off whenever I'm ill. I'm seventeen. I can deal with being in hospital." She says. "If you're that worried, get Sylvie to come in and check on me whenever she drops a patient off, if she's on shift."

"Lex-" Antonio starts. He then sees that Lexi is giving him a look telling him to think about it. "I'll see what I can sort out."

A few hours pass. Antonio and Lexi are playing a game of cards when Eva walks in with Diego. Eva is carrying an overnight bag.

"Hey." Eva smiles. She sets the bag on one of the chairs. "I brought you some clothes and a few bit and bobs. Your laptop. A couple of books." She walks to beside the bed with Diego.

"Thanks." Lexi smiles. Eva hugs her and steps back so that Diego can hug her.

"I hope you're whooping his ass." Diego says, pointing to the cards.

"Hey!" Antonio raises his eyebrow at Diego.

"You bet I am." Lexi laughs. "He can't play this game to save his life." She whispers to Eva and Diego.

"I can hear you." Antonio tells her. Lexi looks at him and smiles.

"Get ready to lose old man." She narrows her eyes.

"Oh, it's on like Donkey Kong." Antonio also narrows his eyes.

"Please, never use that phrase again." Eva shakes her head, laughing. "You're too old." She says.

"You guys are really having fun with these "old man" jokes, aren't you?" Antonio asks.

"Yep." All three kids laugh. They're interrupted by Antonio's phone ringing. He puts the cards in his hands down and gets his phone out of his pocket.

"Answer it." Lexi states. Antonio looks up at her. "It's work. Answer it." Antonio answers the phone and puts it to his ear.

"Dawson." Antonio answers. He listens as Voight relays information of a raid that he's needed for. "Send me the address, I'll be right there." He hangs up and stands up. "I've got to go. Voight needs me for a raid." He puts his jacket on and looks at Eva and Diego. "Will you two be okay to stay here with Lexi?"

"Of course." Diego nods.

"Yeah." Eva adds. Antonio kisses Lexi on the head before walking around and also kissing Eva and Diego on the head.

"Love you, guys." Antonio smiles.

"Love you too." They all smile back before Antonio runs off.

.

It's the next day, Antonio has called Sylvie and she has told him that seeing as she _is_ on shift, she will check on Lexi whenever she can. It's midday when Sylvie walks into her room to check on her. Lexi is sat up in the bed with her laptop on the table.

"Hey, Lexi." Sylvie grins.

"Hey." Lexi smiles as she closes her laptop.

"How are you feeling?"

"Good." Lexi nods. "Dr Rhodes saw me this morning and said that if I wanted to, I can go for a walk around the hospital, but only a short one. He said that I will help with my recovery as opposed to being stuck in a hospital bed."

"Make sure it _is_ a short walk." Sylvie tells her. "And stay away from the ICU."

"Dr Rhodes said the exact same thing." Lexi laughs. "Besides, ironically, the ICU is what got me admitted in the first place, so that is the last place I want to be." A call then comes over the radio.

"I have to go. I'll come in and check on you later." Sylvie says. She then runs off. After about twenty minutes, Lexi decides to go on her walk. As she's already changed out of the gown into some black leggings and a white oversized top, she gets out of bed and slips her flats on. She gets a cardigan out of the bag Eva packed her and puts that on also. She puts her laptop in the cabinet beside the bed, locks it, picks up her phone and walks out of the room. She sees Connor at the nurse's station. He looks up and sees her.

"Are you going for a walk?" He asks her.

"Yeah." She nods.

"Stay away from the ICU." He reminds her.

"Yes, sir." Lexi salutes, causing Connor to shake his head and laugh. She then starts on her walk.

As Lexi is on her walk, she walks past some patrol officers talking to some nurses and a doctor. As she walks past them, she overhears their conversation.

"Mark Lewis died two hours ago."


	3. Chapter 3

Lexi turns on her heels and walks up to them.

“He died?” She asks. The patrol officers turn to face her. She recognises one of them as Officer Garcia. Knowing what happened, Garcia simply nods. “Oh my God.”

“Alexandria, why don’t we get you back to your room?” Garcia suggests.

“I killed him?”

“No.” The nurse shakes his head and steps forward. “You didn’t. He had a pre-existing medical condition. You had nothing to do with his death.”

“But I- I- stabbed him.” Alexandria stutters.

“It wasn’t the stab wound that killed him.” The nurse reiterates. “I promise you.”

“Then why are you here.” Alexandria turns to Garcia.

“Because he was under our custody.” Garcia tells her. “We were clearing up some paperwork.” He adds. “C’mon, I’ll take you back to your room.” He goes to put his hand on her back but she stops him.

“I’m seventeen. I can walk myself.” She glares at him. “It’s enough having my dad and his girlfriend being protective. I don’t need their colleagues being the same.” She turns around and makes her way back to her room.

When she reaches her room she sees Antonio walking out.

“Where have you been?” He asks her, walking up to her.

“I went for a little walk.” She tells him. “I needed to get out of bed. You know what I’m like.” She then spots Connor walking out of a room and to the nurse’s station. She walks past Antonio and as she walks up to Connor, she asks, “why didn’t you tell me?” Connor looks up at her.

“Lexi, what’s going on?” Antonio questions, catching up with her.

“You should’ve told me.” Alexandria tells Connor, aggressively.

“Lexi! Don’t talk to him like that.” Antonio scolds his daughter.

“It’s okay, Antonio.” Connor looks at Antonio before looking back at Alexandria. “I didn’t tell you because you’re not strong enough yet.” He tells her. “How did you find out anyway?”

“I overheard some patrol officers talking to a doctor and a nurse in the hallway.” Alexandria replies. “You should’ve told me.” She says again, her eyes filling with tears. Dr Charles walks onto the floor. “I killed that guy!” She shouts before walking into her room. As she does, Dr Charles walks over to Antonio and Connor.

“Everything okay?” He asks them.

“I don't know.” Antonio sighs.

“That's Alexandria, right? Your daughter?” He questions, looking at Antonio. He nods his head.

“I was just about to come and speak to her.” Dr Charles states. “I would have come down sooner but we've been pretty slammed up in psyche the past few days.”

“I don’t like seeing her like this.” Antonio shakes her head. “She’s a sensitive girl. She takes almost everything to heart. She never does anything to offend anyone. She gets distressed quite easily.”

“Do you want to be in the room when I’m talking to her?” Dr Charles asks Antonio.

“I don’t think you’d get much out of her with me there.” Antonio states.

“Can I ask a question?” Connor looks at Antonio.

“Sure.” Antonio nods.

“When I first spoke to Lexi, she said that her mom was in prison. Then when I spoke to her again, she said that her mom OD’d and died when she was a baby. What’s with that?” Connor queries.

“Lexi uses the ‘prison’ explanation because she’s experienced some bullying and prejudice at school and from other doctors when she’s told them about what really happened.” Antonio explains. “Do I like that she does it? No. Do I think that it helps? Yes.”

“Do you mind if I speak to her about that?” Dr Charles asks.

“Go ahead.” Antonio nods. He then looks at his phone. “I’ve got to get back to work. Will you call me once you’ve spoken to her?”

“Sure.” Dr Charles nods. Antonio smiles and walks away. Dr Charles looks at Connor. and walks to Alexandria’s room. He sees that’s sitting up on the bed with her knees up to her chest. Tears are rolling down her cheeks. “Alexandria?” Alexandria looks up and wipes the tears away. “Is it okay if I come in and talk to you?” He walks into the room.

“I don’t need to speak to a shrink.” Alexandria sighs.

“Everyone just wants to make sure that you’re okay with everything that’s happened.” Dr Charles says.

“I just killed a guy! How can I be okay?!” Alexandria snaps.

“I spoke to the doctors and nurses in charge of his care. It wasn’t the stab that killed him.” Dr Charles tells her. “I promise.”

“Then what did?” Alexandria asks.

“Come with me.” Dr Charles states, standing up.

“Where are we going?”

“To speak to someone.” He replies. “Come on.” Alexandria gets off the bed and follows Dr Charles out of the room. “We’re going for a little walk.” Dr Charles tells Connor as they walk past him.

Five minutes later, Alexandria and Dr Charles are walking onto the pathology floor. They continue walking until Dr Charles stops at a set of door. Alexandria looks at the sign.

“Why have you brought me to the morgue?” Alexandria questions.

“I want someone to talk to you.” Dr Charles responds, pushing the door open. They walk in and Dr Nina Shore turns to face them. “Dr Shore, this is Alexandria.”

“Alexandria.” Nina smiles. “Hi.”

“Hi.” Alexandria sighs awkwardly.

“Are you squeamish at all?” Nina asks the young girl. She shakes her head. “Come here.” Nina waves her over. Alexandria walks over to her. Nina picks up a tray covered with a blue sheet and places it on the table. “Do you know what an abdominal aortic aneurysm is?”

“No.” Alexandria shakes her head.

“It’s a bulge in the bottom section of the aorta due to a weakness in the vessel wall.” Nina explains. She takes the blue sheet off the tray to reveal the aorta that she removed from Mark’s body during the autopsy. “It had been leaking for a few days, on and off but it ruptured. Before you say anything, you aren’t to blame for that. The ER doctors administered some medication that triggered an allergic reaction but it also rose his blood pressure. The spike in blood pressure is what caused the aneurysm to rupture.”

“So, I didn’t kill him?” Alexandria raises an eyebrow.

“No.” Nina shakes her head. “You most certainly did not.” Alexandria looks back at Dr Charles.

“Sometimes people need to have things explained to them a bit more to accept that they have or haven’t done something.” Dr Charles tells her.

“So this was basically exposure therapy?” Alexandria replies. She sees that he’s looking at her confused. “I do AP Psychology.”

“In a way, yeah.” Dr Charles nods. “It’s natural for someone in your position to blame themselves. You are not to blame, Lexi, do you understand that?” Alexandria nods. “Let’s get you back up to your room.” Alexandria walks back up to him. “Thank you, Dr Shore.”

“No problem.” Nina smiles, nodding.

.

It has been a couple of weeks. Alexandria was released after a week in the hospital. She’s sitting at her desk in her room when Eva walks in and sits on the end of the bed. Alexandria turns around in her chair to face her.

“You okay?” Eva questions.

“You don’t need to check on me every ten minutes, Eva.” Alexandria laughs.

“I know.” Eva nods. “But-”

“Dad told you to.” Alexandria finishes.

“Yep.” Eva laughs.

“I’m fine.” Alexandria nods. “Honestly.” She looks at the time on her phone. “Why don’t we go out for lunch. Me, you and Diego?’”

“Sure.” Eva smiles. “I’ll go tell him.”

.

Forty minutes later, Eva, Diego and Alexandria are sat around a table in a coffee shop.

“What made you want to come out for lunch?” Diego asks Alexandria.

“The fact that I’ve been stuck either at hospital or at home for the past two weeks.” Alexandria responds. “I needed to get out.”

“And after what happened you don’t feel comfortable being out on your own.” Eva adds.

“Yeah.” Alexandria nods, sighing.

“You know if you ever want to go out and you’re not comfortable with going on your own, just say the word and we’ll come with.” Diego tells her.

“When did you get so grown up?” Alexandria laughs.

“I’m only a few years younger than you!” Diego exclaims.

“He's right, Lexi.” Eva smiles. “We're here for you whenever you need us.”

“Thanks, guys.” Alexandria smiles.


	4. Chapter 4

It has been a couple of weeks. It’s Alexandria’s first day back at school. She wakes up at 6am and has a shower. Once she’s had a shower, she sits down at her vanity and blow dries her hair before straightening it. Once she has straightened her hair, she puts her hairband in to push her hair out of the way and starts on her make-up. She does her everyday make-up look before getting changed into a black cropped sweater, black jeans and black canvas shoes.

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Once she’s dressed, she packs her backpack with her notebooks and textbooks, her pencil case and her phone charger. She puts her coat on, puts her bag on her back and looks at the time on her phone.

“Crap.” She whispers to herself. She quickly rushes out of her room and to the kitchen. She grabs herself a bottle of water, an apple and a cereal bar for breakfast. “Dad! I need a lift to school!” She shouts. As she’s rushing around the kitchen, she spots a note on the counter. She picks it up and reads it.

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Hearing her dad’s bedroom door open, she quickly puts the note back down.

“How is it that you wake up two hours before you’re supposed to leave and your still running late?” Antonio questions.

“I’m a teenager and a girl.” Alexandria laughs. “It’s what we do.”

“Come on.” Antonio picks his keys up from the key bowl. “Let’s get you to school.” As he walks past the counter, he also sees the note. He smiles slightly before leaving with Alexandria.

In the car, Alexandria and Antonio are talking.

“So, you erm- you had fun last night then?” Alexandria smiles, seeing his face go red.

“Lexi-”

“Dad, I’m seventeen.” Alexandria states. “You do what you gotta do to keep yourself happy. Just do it when I’m not home.” Antonio tries to hold back his laughter but he fails, bursting out in laughter.

“You’re okay with me seeing someone?” Antonio questions once he has calmed down.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Alexandria asks. “I was okay when you started seeing Laura, I was okay when you married her, I was okay when you started seeing Sylvie. Why would this time be any different?” She adds. “Dad, if you’re happy, I’m happy.” Antonio looks at her and smiles.

“”Why don’t you come to the district after school?” Antonio suggests. “I’ll introduce you to her.”

“Sure.” Alexandria smiles. For the rest of the ride, they talk about what they could do over the weekend since Eva and Diego will be staying with them. When they pull up in front of the school, Antonio turns to face Alexandria.

“If you feel that you can’t be at school any longer, call or text me and I’ll come and collect you.” Antonio tells her.

“I’ll be fine.” Alexandria reassures him. “I promise.” Antonio raises an eyebrow. “But okay.” She sighs, nodding. She undoes her seatbelt and kisses Antonio on the cheek. “Bye.”

“Bye.” Antonio smiles. “Love you.”

“Love you too.” Alexandria smiles back. She gets out of the car, puts her bag back on her back, closes the door and makes her way to her tutorial period, making it just in time for the bell to ring.

.

It’s fourth period. For Alexandria, it’s Social Studies. Alexandria is sitting at her table when she recognises some familiar faces walk into the classroom. Matthew Casey, Christopher Herrmann, Kelly Severide and Brian Zvonecek from Firehouse 51. The teacher informs the class that they are going to be delivering a talk on a new cadet programme the CFD are setting up. She then stands at the back of the classroom and Kelly starts off.

“Hi, everyone. I’m Lieutenant Kelly Severide. I’m in charge of Squad 3. We basically do all the big rescues as well as helping Truck and Engine at fires by doing primary and secondary searches.” Kelly introduces himself and what he does.

“I’m Captain Matthew Casey. I’m in charge of Truck 81. We’re the ones that you’ll see if you’re ever in a minor car accident, which we hope you never will be. We help people out of burning buildings.” Matt introduces himself. “Obviously.” He adds, causing everyone to laugh. 

“I’m Lieutenant Christopher Herrmann. I’m with Engine 51. Our main job is to man the hoses and put the fires out once Truck and Squad have gotten everyone out of the building.” Herrmann adds.

“And I’m Brian Zvonecek. I’m-” Otis starts to say.

“The clown.” Alexandria finishes, causing everyone to look at her. “What?”

“Lexi.” The teacher states, about to tell her off.

“It’s okay.” Otis stops the teacher. “We know Lexi. She likes to make fun of me.” Kelly, Matt and Herrmann all nod, smiling.

“Do you guys want to know what we call Brian?” Alexandria asks, earning a few nods from people. She smiles at Otis.

“It’s Otis!” Otis exclaims before Alexandria can say anything more.

“We better move on.” The teacher hints and everyone turns back to face the front.

.

It’s the end of the lesson and lunch time. The teacher dismisses everyone but Alexandria hangs back to speak to Matt, Herrmann, Otis and Kelly.

“We heard about what happened.” Matt tells her. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” Alexandria nods.

“Lexi, can you walk these guys back out? I’ve got a meeting.” The teacher asks Lexi.

“Sure.” Lexi nods. The teacher smiles and walks out.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Herrmann questions. “I noticed some people giving you some looks.”

“Yeah.” Alexandria nods again. She then leads them through the school and out to the front.

“You should drop by the firehouse sometime.” Kelly tells her. “I’m sure everyone would want to see you.”

“Sure.” She nods. A group of girls then walk up to Alexandria.

“Kill anyone else yet?” One of them jokes and the other laughs. “We better run, girls, before she stabs us too.” They turn and walk away laughing. Matt can see that Alexandria’s eyes are starting to fill with tears.

“Come with me.” Matt tells her, putting his hand on her back. He takes her around the corner so that they are out of sight. He sees that she has tears running down her cheeks. He gets a clean tissues out of his pocket and hands it to her. She takes it and dries her eyes. “Ignore them. They’re not worth your time. They don’t know what happened in that alley.”

“Sylvie told you?” Alexandria questions.

“Yeah.” Matt nods. “I may not be married to Gabby anymore, I may not be your uncle anymore, technically anyway, but you can come and talk to me whenever you want about whatever you want. You can call me whenever you want, no matter what time it is. I’m here for you Lexi. I will always be here for you.”

“Thank you.” Alexandria smiles.

“Come here.” Matt extends his arms. Alexandria steps forward and they hug. “I better get back. Remember what I said.” Matt says as they part. “Bye.”

“Bye.” Alexandria smiles slightly. Matt turns around and walks away. After a few minutes, Alexandria walks back into the school and to her locker to get her lunch. When she opens the locker, a note falls out. She picks it up, unfolds it and reads it. Scrawled in messy writing is the word “murderer”. She stuffs the note in her pocket and gets her phone out. She brings a number up in her contacts, calls it and puts the phone to her ear.

“Hello?” The person on the other end answers.

“Hey.” Alexandria replies. “Can you come and get me?”

.

Twenty minutes later, Alexandria is sitting on the wall outside of the school when a car pulls up. Trudy Platt gets out of her car and walks up to Alexandria. She sees that Alexandria has been crying.

“You okay?” Trudy asks her, sitting next to her.

“I thought I was ready to come back to school.” Alexandria sighs. “I’m not. I can’t do it.”

“Yes, you can.” Trudy nods, reassuring her. Alexandria takes the note out of her pocket and hands it to Trudy. Trudy looks at the note. “You know that-”

“I didn’t kill him?” Alexandria asks, interrupting her. “Yeah.”

“Don’t let this note tell you otherwise.” Trudy raises an eyebrow. “Don’t let one person who is desperate for attention get to you.”

“It’s not just one person though.” Alexandria shakes her head. “It feels like everyone is staring at me. It feels like they’re talking about me behind my back.”

“I hate to be blunt, but they probably are.” Trudy tells her. “Teenagers will gossip. That’s just high school. It was the same when I was in high school and it will be the same when your great, great, great grandchildren will be in high school.” Alexandria looks down. “Come on. We’ll go get some food and I’ll take you to the district. I’ll call your dad, let him know what’s going on.” They stand up, walk to the car and get in. Before Trudy starts driving, she gets her phone out and calls Antonio.

“Hello?” Antonio answers his phone.

“Antonio, it’s Trudy, I’m at Lexi’s school.” Trudy tells him.

“Is she okay?” Antonio questions.

“She’s fine.” Trudy assures him. “I’m going to take her to get some food then I’ll bring her back to the district with me.”

“What happened?” Antonio asks.

“I’ll let her talk to you about that.” Trudy replies.

“Okay, then.” Antonio sighs. “Thanks for calling me.”

“No problem. I’ll see you in a bit.” She then hangs up.

“Is he mad at me?” Alexandria queries.

“Why would he be mad at you?” Trudy asks.

“Because I called you and not him.” Alexandria tells her.

“I’ve known your dad a very long time, Lexi.” Trudy reminds her. “He won’t mind.” She shakes her head.

“Yeah but this morning he told me to call him if I felt like I couldn’t stay at school any longer.”

“Why didn’t you call him then?”

“I don’t know.” Lexi shrugs her shoulders. “I didn’t think. I just got my phone out, pulled your number up and called you.”

“Are you sure it’s not because you feel guilty?” Trudy raises an eyebrow.

“Guilty for what?” Alexandria queries.

“Well, he’s missed quite a few days over the past couple of weeks to take care of you.” Trudy responds. Alexandria looks out the window. “Lexi, you’re his daughter – his family. You know how important family is to Voight. You know what he’s like. An attack on his team’s families are attacks on his own family. He understands when your dad has to take time off work to look after you or take you to appointments or whatever.”

“It’s not just that.” Alexandria shakes her head, looking back at Trudy.

“Then what is it?” Trudy asks.

“It’s bad enough that people think I killed a man. How do you think it will look when dad, who is also a cop, walks into the school defending me in front of everyone? It will give people even more reason to call me a murderer, to stare at me, to talk about me behind my back.” Alexandria says.

“He can be a bit too overprotective.” Trudy laughs, nodding. “But he’s a father. That’s his job. With everything that happened to your mom, with you being a preemie, being ill a lot as a child – he has even more reason to be overprotective.”

“He’s going to pull me out of the school.” Alexandria states. “If I tell him about the note, about what people are saying, about the staring – he’s going to pull me out.”

“I think he’s already planning out that anyway.” Trudy says. “Talk to him about it. Don’t bottle it up.” They both put their seatbelts on and Trudy starts the drive.

.

An hour later, Trudy leads Alexandria up the stairs into intelligence. As soon as Antonio sees them, he stands up and walks up to them.

“Are you okay?” He asks his daughter.

“Yeah.” Alexandria nods.

“Thanks, Trudy.” Antonio nods at Trudy.

“No problem.” Trudy smiles before turning around and walking down the stairs.

“What happened?” Antonio looks back at Alexandria.

“Some people were saying stuff,” Alexandria tells him, “about what happened.” She adds. “This was put in my locker.” She hands over the note she found. Antonio looks at it then back at Alexandria.

“That’s it. I’m pulling you out of that school. I’m sending you to the same school Diego goes to.” Antonio informs her.

“That’s well out of the way!” Alexandria exclaims.

“Lexi, this is not up for discussion.” Antonio tells her. “A guy tried to feel you up that school. The principal could have raped you if you hadn’t-”

“If I hadn’t stabbed him?” Alexandria finishes, raising her eyebrow.

“That’s not what I meant.” Antonio shakes his head.

“Then what did you mean, dad?!” Alexandria exclaims. “Every morning, since that day, I’ve woken up and the first image that comes to my head is face. Principal Lewis’ face when I stabbed him. He looked me in the eye and I could see the remorse in his eyes.” Tears well in her eyes.

“Lexi, that school isn’t safe for you.” Antonio tells her. “The people talking about you. It’s not just to your face. The school forum – it’s on there.”

“What?!” Alexandria’s eyes widen. She gets her phone out and looks at the school forum. “ ‘Did Alexandria Dawson kill our principal?’, ‘Lexi Dawson is guilty’, ‘Alexandria Dawson is a knife wielding maniac’, ‘Is Alexandria –’ Before she can carry on, Antonio takes her phone out of her hands.

“You don’t need to see that.” Antonio tells her. “That is why I’m pulling you out.” He adds. “Go through to the break room and calm down. We’ll have a proper talk later.” Alexandria nods and does as she’s told.

.

Later that evening, Alexandria is sat cross-legged on her bed listening to her music when Antonio knocks on her door. She looks up and takes her headphones off.

“You didn’t get a chance to meet Shaylynn earlier.” Antonio says. “So I’ve invited her for dinner, is that okay?”

“Yeah.” Alexandria nods.

“Great.” Antonio smiles. “She’s on her way, she’s picking Indian up. I’ve just told her what you usually have.”

“Okay.” Alexandria says as she stands up off her bed. “I didn't make a very good first impression, did I?”

“She understands.” Antonio replies. There's then a knock at the door. “That will be her.” They both walk to the door and Antonio opens it. Shaylynn is standing on the other side with some bags. “Hey.” He grins. “Come in.” He lets Shaylynn in, closes the door and takes the bags from her. “You kinda met Lexi earlier.” Alexandria gives a little wave. “She lives with me full time whereas Eva and Diego, my other two kids, live with their mom and stay here whenever they feel like it.”

“What about your mom?” Shaylynn asks Alexandria. Alexandria looks at Antonio.

“Her mom OD'd when she was a baby.” Antonio replies. “Which is why she lives with me.”

“It must have been hard.” Shaylynn states.

“Still is.” Antonio laughs. “Anyways, yous two haven't been formally introduced.” He adds. “Shaylynn, this is my daughter Alexandria. Although, she hates that name so we all call her Lexi. Lexi, this is my girlfriend, Shaylynn Voight.”

“Voight? As in Hank?” Alexandria asks surprised

“He's my dad.” Shaylynn nods. Alexandria looks at Antonio.

“You're in trouubblleee.” She laughs. ****


	5. Chapter 5

It has been a few weeks. Shaylynn has decided to take Alexandria out for the day to get to know her better. They are sitting at a table in a coffee shop talking.

“Can I ask you a question?” Shaylynn questions.

“Sure.’ Alexandria smiles.

“Your dad and I were talking after what happened the other day – when he told you he’d be sending you to Diego’s school.” Shaylynn starts. “Since it’s out of the way and you’d have to be getting up even earlier, I brought up the topic of a private tutor so that you can be home schooled.”

“On a cop’s salary?” Alexandria raises an eyebrow.

“I’ve offered to pay for it.” Shaylynn replies. “If it’s what you want.”

“I’m not your kid, though. Why would you pay for it?”

“Like I told your dad – you’re his kids which means that you’re my kids too.” Shaylynn tells her. “Both your dad and I want what’s best for you. Going back to your school will just make you miserable and going to Diego’s school will make you miserable as well since you won’t get to see your friends. Plus, having a private tutor has its perks. We can work out a schedule that suits you. We can design a scheme of work that you like. You can work at your own pace.”

“Thank you.” Lexi smiles slightly.

“Your dad was right.” Shaylynn states.

“Right about what?” Alexandria asks,

“That you’ve had to grow up quickly.”

“Yeah.” Alexandria laughs. “Having a dad who’s a cop and extremely over-protective will do that to you.” She adds. “And having a step-family. And being ill as a baby. And having a mom who was a drug addict and OD’d.”

“Eva’s older than you, right?”

“There’s about a year and a half between us.” Alexandria nods. “My dad and Laura split up for a little while after Eva was born. In that time, he met my mom.” She continues. “That’s what both dad and Laura told me anyway.”

“Do you know what you want to be when you’re older?” Shaylynn queries.

“You sure do have a lot of questions.” Alexandria laughs uncomfortably. “Sorry, I’ve never been good with my dad’s girlfriends asking me a bunch of questions. It’s like their desperate.” She takes a sip of her drink. “But you’re different.”

“Different how?” Shaylynn asks.

“You’re the only one who’s actually taken the time to get to know me.” Alexandria responds. “Laura just assumed I would tell her things in my own time and the last one already knew about me, kind of, so there wasn’t much to tell her.” Hearing this makes Shaylynn smile. She looks at her watch.

“We better get going. The day’s going to be over before it has even started.” Shaylynn says as she stands up. “I’m going to go and pay the bill. I’ll be back in a few minutes.” Alexandria nods and finishes her drink before putting her jacket on. She picks her phone up from the table and looks at it. She sees a message from Antonio.

_**From: Dad** _

_**Hope you’re having a good day x I’ll be home late tonight so I’ll see you then xx love you x** _

She quickly taps out a reply.

_**To: Dad** _

_**Yeah, just finished having some lunch x I’ll see you later xx love you too xx** _

She puts her phone in her back pocket and stands up just as Shaylynn returns.

“You ready?” She asks.

“Yep.” Alexandria nods. Shaylynn puts her own jacket on, picks up her bag and they both walk out. They start walking down the street.

“What do you want to do?”

“I don’t know.” Alexandria shrugs. “I don’t mind.”

“How about we go shopping for some bit and bobs for your room?” Shaylynn suggests.

“Have you seen my room?” Alexandria laughs. “There’s barely enough room for me to move around.”

“Well you won’t have to worry about that for much longer.” Shaylynn says. Alexandria stops dead in her tracks. Shaylynn also stops and looks at Alexandria.

“What do you mean?” Alexandria asks.

“Nothing.” Shaylynn shakes her head. “It doesn’t matter.”

“Shaylynn, I’m sure my dad has told you that I don’t like being lied to.” Alexandria raises an eyebrow. “What do you mean?” Shaylynn sighs and rubs her forehead.

“I was thinking of asking your dad to move in with me.” Shaylynn informs her. “And you, of course.” Alexandria stays quiet. “Are you okay with that?”

“Of course.” Alexandria nods after a few moments of silence. “Are you sure? I mean, won’t it be a little bit cramped?” Shaylynn just laughs. “What?”

“Lexi, my house has eight bedrooms.” Shaylynn tells her. “I have more than enough room.”

“Well, my dad’s old school.” Alexandria responds. “He won’t want to move in with you in fear that Eva, Diego or myself will turn around and do the same thing.”

“You’re mature enough to know what to do and what not to do when it comes to relationships.” Shaylynn says.

“Tell you what – tell him that I brought it up as a joke and that you asked me how I would actually feel about it.” Alexandria tells her. “Technically, it’s not telling a lie. It’s just putting a – a spin on the truth.” She sees that Shaylynn is staring at her. “Look. My dad is weary when it comes to relationships because of me. He doesn’t want to put me in the middle – so to speak – of it. Every time he goes out, he asks me if I’m okay with it. The last couple of girlfriends he’s had, he asked me if I’m okay with him seeing someone and every time I tell him that if he’s happy, I’m happy. You’re different to all the other people he’s dated. He looks at you differently. He didn’t even look at Laura the way he looks at you. Real, true love.”

“You’re very observant.” Shaylynn points out as they start to walk again.

“Dad always taught me to look out for the simplest things.” They come to a shop selling mobility aids. In the window is a Zimmer Frame. “We should get dad one of those.” She laughs. Shaylynn looks at her with a disapproving look on her face. “Oh, dad didn’t tell you that old-man jokes are a thing that I have. I kinda influenced Eva and Diego to make them too.” She says. “It’s what we do.” Shaylynn laughs. “Can you handle that?”

“I think so.” Shaylynn laughs again.

.

It has been a couple of hours. Alexandria and Shaylynn walk into Antonio’s apartment with bags of shopping. They place them on the floor.

“Oh, I forgot. Dad said he’ll be home a bit late.” Alexandria tells Shaylynn.

“I figured as much.” Shaylynn says. “A big case has jumped off.”

“How come you’re not there then?” Alexandria questions.

“Perks of having your father as your boss.” Shaylynn smiles. “And plus when I told him that I wanted to get to know you better, he gave me no choice but to take the day off.” Alexandria takes her jacket off and hangs it up on the hook. “Go and put your stuff away, I’ll get started on dinner. Is there anything in particular that you fancy?”

“No.” Alexandria shakes her head. “Anything will do.” She picks up her bags and walks through to her room. She puts the bags on her bed and sits down at her desk. She lifts the lid to her laptop and switches it on. She logs on and brings up a chat site she had signed up to. She logs in and brings up a message thread from “Martin Hawkins”. She sees that the last message that he sent was:

_**R u gonna send those pics?** _

She leans back in her chair and sighs. She’s been warned about this but what’s the harm, right? He’ll only be able to see the picture once. She stands up and takes her top off and then her bra. She’s about ready to take the picture with her laptop webcam when she hears a knock on her bedroom door. She quickly puts her top on and closes her laptop. She walks to her door and opens it to see Shaylynn.

“Dinner will be ready in about half an hour.” Shaylynn informs her. “I’m going to rent a movie, do you want to join?”

“Sure.” Alexandria nods and smiles. “I’m just going to get changed into something more comfy.”

“Okay.” Shaylynn smiles and walks away. Alexandria closes her bedroom door and leans against it. She takes a deep breath and puts her hand on her forehead.

"That was too close." She whispers to herself. She walks back over to her laptop and lifts the lid back up. The screen flashes on and the chat is still open. Alexandria bites her nail, trying to think of what to do next. _Dad will kill me if he finds out about it._ After a few minutes, she types out her reply.

_**Tomorrow** _

She closes the chat and turns her laptop off before getting changed into some grey sweatpants and a grey sweatshirt. She puts on some fluffy socks and walks out to the living room where Shaylynn is. She slumps down in the armchair. Shaylynn notices that something seems off.

"Are you okay?" Shaylynn asks her.

"Yeah." Alexandria nods. "Just exhausted."

"Why don't you go to bed?"

"Because it's only 7pm." Alexandria laughs. "Wayyy too early and besides, ya girls gotta eat."

"Well if you fall asleep I sure as hell won't be carrying you to your bed." Shaylynn warns her.

"Just drape a blanket or something over me." Alexandria shrugs. "That's what dad normally does."

.

Fifteen minutes into the movie, Alexandria is fast asleep. Shaylynn laughs, shakes her head and stands up. She walks through the Alexandria's bedroom and takes a blanket out of her wardrobe. As she's about to walk out of the room, she sees her Alexandria's phone light up. She walks over to it and glances at it. When she sees the message, she puts the blanket down and picks the phone up. She spend a couple of minutes trying to figure out the password until eventually, she tries Antonio's birthday. The phone unlocks. Shaylynn goes into the messages app to read the full text.

**_From: Makayla_ **

**_Got your daddy to protect you? You're pathetic! Just come back to school. Stop being a pussy and hiding away!_ **

She scrolls through all the other messages.

**_From: Makayla_ **

**_Murderer. You think you can get away with anything cos your father's a cop._ **

**_From: Makayla_ **

**_Daddy can't protect you forever._ **

**_From: Makayla_ **

**_I know where you live. Let's finish what we started._ **

**_From: Makayla_ **

**_You can kill a grown man but you can't even kill yourself?! Pathetic._ **

She sighs, puts the phone in her pocket, picks up the blanket and walks back out. She drapes it over Alexandria. As she does, she looks at Alexandria's wrists and sees some cuts. She sighs once more. This time with sympathy. She dims the light and walks into Antonio's room where she gets out her own phone. She pulls up Antonio's number and calls him.

" ** _Hello?"_** Antonio answers his phone.

"Hey." Shaylynn replies. "Are you nearly done?"

**_"I don't know." Antonio says._ **

"I think you should come home."

**_"Why?" Antonio asks. "Is everything okay?"_ **

"Something's up with Lexi." Shaylynn tells him. She can already hear him telling Voight that he needs to leave. "I'll explain everything when you get home."

 ** _"Okay. Thanks."_** He says. **_"I'll see you in a bit."_**

"Bye." Shaylynn ends the call. She puts her phone and walks back out to the living room. When she does, she sees that Lexi is gone and the front door is wide open. She quickly runs out the door to try and catch up with her. _She can't have gone far._ She thinks to herself. She runs down the stairs and to the front desk where the doorman is. "Have you seen Alexandria Dawson? She lives in apartment 174."

"She left about a minute ago." The doorman nods. "She looked in a right state."

"Thank you!" Shaylynn hurries and looks down the street both ways. "Shit."


	6. Chapter 6

Shaylynn walks back up to Antonio's apartment and turns off the cooker. She grabs her jacket and walks back out, closing the door behind her, to find Alexandria. As sh's walking out of the building, she bumps into Antonio. 

"What's going on?" He asks her. 

"Lexi's gone." 

"What do you mean?" 

"She walked out." Shaylynn tells him. 

"She's seventeen. Her curfew's ten." Antonio replies. Shaylynn gets Alexandria's phone out of her pocket, brings up the messages she saw and hands the phone to him. He too looks through the messages. 

"I saw some cuts on her wrists." Shaylynn adds. Antonio looks up at her.

"I have a feeling I know where she is." Antonio says. "Come on." 

.

Meanwhile, Alexandria is knocking on the door to Kelly Severide's apartment. A few moments later, Kelly opens the door. 

"Lexi?" Kelly asks, surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"Hey." Alexandria smiles slightly. "Is Matt here?"

"Yeah." Kelly nods. "Come in." He lets Alexandria in and closes the door. "Casey, you've got a visitor!" Matt stands up from the sofa and turns to face them. 

"Hey, Lexi." Matt smiles. "Are you okay?" 

"Yo said that I can come and speak to you whenever I need to." Alexandria hints. 

"Yeah, of course." Matt nods. "Come and sit down."Alexandria walks over to Matt and they both sit on the sofa.

"I'm going to go to Molly's. Give you too some space." Kelly tells them. He puts his coat on and leaves. 

"Does your dad know that you're here?" Matt asks Alexandria and she shakes her head. "Lexi-"

"My curfew's ten." She tells him. "As long as I'm home by then." She adds. 

"What do you want to talk about?" Matt asks. 

"Do you remember that girl that came up to me the other week?" Alexandria questions and Matt nods. "Her name's Makayla."

"Makayla?" Matt raises an eyebrow. "Your ex-girlfriend, Makayla?" 

"Yeah." Alexandria nods. "Well, since that day, she's been sending me messages."

"What sort of messages?" Matt queries.

"That I'm a murderer," Alexandria replies. "And I know that that's not true. That message isn't the one that bothers me. It's the others."

"What did they say?" 

"That dad can't protect me forever. That we should finish what we started - I don't even know what that means and then the one she sent yesterday - 'You can kill a grown man but you can't even kill yourself. Pathetic!' The worst part of it is that that's not the worst message that I've gotten from her." Alexandria replies as she twidles with the sleeve of her sweatshirt. Tears begin to collect in her eyes. "It's like I can't escape what happened." Matt catches sight of the cuts on her wrist. 

"Lexi, cutting yourself isn't the answer." Matt sighs. "I know it may seem like it will help but-" 

"I don't need you patronizing me." Alexandria scoffs, shaking her head. 

"Right." Matt nods. "Sorry." There's then a knock at the door. Matt stands up.

"How much do you wanna bet that that's my dad?" Alexandria sighs. Matt walks to the door and answers it. Sure enough, it's Antonio and Shaylynn. After a brief exchange, Matt lets them in. 

"Why did you walk out without telling Shaylynn?" Antonio asks his daughter. "You really worried her." He sits next to Alexandria. "I know you didn't mean to."

"I just wanted to talk to someone." Alexandria tells him. 

"You could have spoken to me." Shaylynn states. 

"Someone who understands." Alexandria reiterates. 

"What do you mean?" Antonio queries. Alexandria then goes on to explain what happened the day 51 visited her school and Makayla approached her as she was talking with them. "We've seen the messages from her." Antonio nods.

"Of course you have." Alexandria mutters. "I'm handling it." She fiddles with her sleeve again. She looks up at Shaylynn. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay." She nods. "Just please don't do it to us again." Alexandria smiles and looks back at Antonio.

"Let me guess, you've called Dr Charles and made an appointment for tomorrow or left a message?" She sighs. 

"You've cut your wrists, Lexi. You walked out of the apartment without telling anyone, leaving the door wide open." Antonio raises his eyebrows. "I just want to make sure that you're okay. Mentally." He adds. "I think it's time we got you home." They both stand up. "Thank you, Matt." Antonio smiles at Matt. 

"No problem." Matt smiles and nods. Alexandria walks over to Matt and hugs him. He wraps his arms around her. "Next time you want to come and speak to me in the middle of this night, make sure you tell your dad or Shaylynn where you are. Especially if it's about something like this."

"Okay." Alexandria nods as she steps back from him. "Bye."

"Bye." He smiles. 

.

The next day, Antonio and Alexandria walk onto the psychiatric floor at Chicago Med. Dr Charles is waiting for them. 

"Hi, Lexi." He smiles at the young girl. "Antonio." He nods at Antonio. "Let's go through to my office." They both follow him to his office. "Take a seat on the sofa." They do so and he closes the door. He walks over to his desk and picks up some gloves and a first aid box. "Before we get started, can I take a look at the cuts on your wrists?" 

"Sure." Alexandria nods. She rolls her sleeves and Dr Charles puts the gloves on. He sits next to her and examines the cuts.

"What did you use?"

"A stanley knife blade." Alexandria replies.

"I'm going to give these cuts a quick clean. Is that okay?" He questions.

"You don't need to keep asking 'is that okay?' or something similar." Alexandria laughs.

"Well, we don't want you sueing us, do we?" Dr Charles laughs back. "And legally I do have to ask; so, is it okay I do clean the cuts?"

"Yeah." Alexandria nods. Dr Charles gets a wipe packet out of the first aid box and starts cleaning the cuts on her right wrist before doing the same on the left wrist with a fresh wipe.

"How does that feel?" Dr Charles queries.

"Tingly." Alexandria rolls her sleeves back down.

"It would do." Dr Charles nods. "Are you up to date with your tetanus shots?"

"She had a booster one a couple of months ago." Antonio answers for her.

"I cleaned to blade with alcohol before I used it. I'm not stupid." Alexandria states.

"How about you tell me why you decided to cut?" Dr Charles asks. For the next 90 minutes Alexandria talks about what's been going on and the three discuss what the best way forward would be. Dr Charles ends up reccomending some therapy and support groups for Alexandria to attend and has asked to see her again in six weeks time. Alexandria and Antonio walk out of Dr Charles' office and make their way to the cafeteria to get a drink and something to eat. Once they have gotten their drinks and their food, they sit down at a table.

"Shaylynn and I were talking last night after you'd gone to bed." Antonio starts. "She mentioned that she brought up me and you moving in with her." Alexandria takes a sip of her drink. "And, if you're okay it, I'm gonna say yes."

"I take it she didn't tell you that I already said that I'm okay with it." Alexandria laughs. "I've lost count of how many times I've said this - if you're happy, I'm happy. I'm seventeen. Don't let me get in between you and your love life." She continues. "Besides, I'll _probably_ be doing the things you're doing right now, _very_ soon." She adds with a sly grin causing Antonio to almost spit out his coffee. "Y'know, getting a job and all that." Antonio stares at her. "What did you think I meant?" He continues to stare. "Oh, dad!" Alexandria exclaims. "Gross!"

"Like you said, you're seventeen." Antonio shrugs. "It's time you-"

"Yeah, dad. We had 'the talk' when I was ten." Alexandria cuts him off. "Anyways, can we stop talking about sex?"

"Fine." Antonio laughs. "We're going to go and pick Eva and Diego up from Laura's. She's going away with her new boyfriend for a week so they'll be staying with us. I'll drop yous home then I'm going to have to go to work."

"Okay." Alexandria nods. "Can you not mention what's gone on to them? The cuts, the messages. I don't want them worrying."

"Don't worry." Antonio shakes his head.

.

Later that night, Eva and Diego are sat watching TV whilst Alexandria is sat on her bed in her room. She has the chat from Martin Hawkins open. Without thinking, she takes her top and bra off and take pictures using the webcam on her laptop. She attaches them to a message. She stares at the screen for a few minutes. Slowly, she places her finger down on the track pad.

**SENT**


	7. Chapter 7

The next morning, Alexandria walks through to the kitchen where Shaylynn and Antonio are.

"Good morning." She yawns as she sits at the breakfast bar.

"Morning sleepy head." Antonio smiles. "Have a good sleep? Eva and Diego said that you went to bed early."

"Yeah." Alexandria nods. "I was just really tired. I take it they're still in bed?"

"Yeah." Antonio also nods.

"What do you want for breakfast?" Shaylynn asks Alexandria.

"I'm fine for now." Alexandria shakes her head. "But thanks anyway."

"Lexi doesn't like to eat too early in the morning." Antonio tells Shaylynn.

"It's only 7am." Shaylynn looks at the clock.

"That's early for me." Alexandria laughs. "Besides, I normally eat at around 9am."

"Ah." Shaylynn says.

"But I could really use a coffee." Alexandria smiles at Antonio.

"One step ahead of you." Antonio places a mug of coffee in front of her.

"Thanks, dad." She smiles before taking a sip.

"What are your plans for today?" Shaylynn queries.

"I don't know." Alexandria shakes her head. "I might go down to the leisure centre and go for a swim. Maybe do some shopping. I haven't really decided yet."

"Well make sure you do eat before you go." Shaylynn raises an eyebrow. "Especially if you're planning on doing some exercise."

"I will. Don't worry." Alexandria replies. "Even if I don't eat, Eva will force me to eat so there's that." She adds laughing. Antonio's phone pings. He gets it out of his pocket and looks at it.

"We gotta go. We've got a case." Antonio looks at Shaylynn. He then looks at Alexandria. "Will you be okay?"

"Of course." Alexandria nods. Antonio walks around to her, hugs her and kisses her on the top of the head.

"Meet me at the boxing gym at about 6 tonight. We'll get some training in." Antonio tells her.

"Okay." Alexandria nods once more.

"I'll see you later." Antonio says.

"Bye, Lexi." Shaylynn smiles.

"Bye." Lexi replies. "Stay safe."

"Always do." Antonio assures her before leaving with Shaylynn.

.

It's a couple of hours later. Alexandria has gotten ready for the day by changing into a black, floral, over the shoulder top and a white skirt alongside some black converse.

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She's sitting in the kitchen eating her breakfast when Eva and Diego walk in. They've both been up for about an hour.

"You going out?" Diego questions.

"Yeah." Alexandria nods. "I'm going to go down to the leisure centre and do a bit of swimming."

"Can you drop me off at my friends on the way?" Diego asks.

"Sure." Alexandria smiles. "But I'm leaving in half an hour."

"I'll go and get ready." Diego grins before walking away.

"I still can't believe you got a car." Eva states, sitting next to Alexandria.

"Well, one of my friends was getting a new car and she spoke to her parents and they agreed to let her give it to me." Alexandria responds. "Do you want to join me? I'm going shopping afterwards. We could go for lunch."

"Sure." Eva nods. "I'll just go and get ready. I can't stay out for long though. I have some other things planned for today."

.

Half an hour later, Alexandria, Eva and Diego are all sat in Alexandria's car. Alexandria pulls away and starts driving.

"So, I'm assuming dad told you that Shaylynn asked him to move in with her." Diego starts conversation. "They spoke to us about it last night."

"Yeah." Alexandria nods. "Well, it was actually Shaylynn who ran it by me first. She wanted to make sure that I was okay with her asking dad."

"Do you know when they're planning the move?" Eva questions.

"Nope." Alexandria shakes her head. "Could be tomorrow. Could be next week. Could be next month. Who knows?"

"You're okay with it?" Diego queries.

"Yeah. Of course, I am." Alexandria nods. "Aren't you?"

"They haven't been dating that long." Diego shakes his head. "I'm happy for him. I really am. I just think that they're moving a bit too fast. I mean, you've had time to adjust to him seeing Shaylynn. Eva and I haven't. So, of course, you'd be okay with it."

"The fact that I've had time to adjust to the situation has nothing to do with it." Alexandria tells Diego as she comes to a red light and stops the car. "When was the last time you saw dad _this_ happy?" Diego thinks for a few moments. "It's been years. Even with Sylvie he wasn't this happy. Shaylynn and dad are both cops. If they want to be together, they won't waste time." The light turns green and Alexandria starts driving again. "Just give it time, Diego." Five minutes later, they're pulling up in front of Diego's friend's house.

"How are you getting home?" Eva asks.

"I don't know." He shakes his head.

"If you need a lift just text me and I'll come and get you."

"Okay." He nods. "Bye."

"See ya." Both Eva and Alexandria smile and watch Diego walk up the drive to his friend's front door. Once they see that Diego is safely inside, Alexandria starts driving to the leisure centre.

.

About three hours have gone by. Eva and Alexandria have finished at the leisure centre and have decided to go for lunch. As they're walking and looking around for somewhere to eat, Eva keeps stopping.

"Are you okay?" Alexandria asks.

"I don't know." Eva shakes her head. "It feels like we're being followed."

"What do you mean?" Alexandria queries.

"I've got a bad feeling that we're being watched."

"I'm sure it's nothing." Alexandria reassures her but she can see the distress on her face. "Text dad." Eva nods, gets out her phone and texts Antonio. After a few minutes, he replies. "What did he say?" Eva shows her the message which instructs them to walk around the block a few times and if they still feel like someone is following them, to make their way to the district. "Let's go." Alexandria nods. They start walking around the block and their third lap, Eva stops.

"Someone's definitely following us." Eva states.

"Let's go to the district then." Alexandria nods. They walk to the parking complex two blocks away, where Alexandria had parked. They make their way to where the car is, put their bags on the back seats and get in. As they do, Alexandria gets a text message. She gets her phone out and looks at it.

_**From: Unknown** _

_**You look beautiful today. Maybe later you can show me what's under that skirt?** _

"Is that dad?" Eva asks.

"No." Alexandria shakes her head. "Wrong number." She deletes the message, turns her phone on silent and puts it in the armrest console box before putting her seatbelt on. "You ready?" She looks at Eva.

"Yeah." Eva nods. "I'll text dad, tell him that we're on our way."

.

Fifteen minutes later, Alexandria is pulling into the parking lot at the 21st District. Alexandria gets her phone out of the arm console and gets out with Eva. Both girls get their bags and walk up to Antonio.

"You girls okay?" He asks, worried.

"Yeah." They both nod.

"I just got a bad feeling that we were being followed." Eva adds.

"Come on." Antonio tells them. They follow him into the district and down to the tech room where Adam is waiting.

"Hey, girls." Adam smiles.

"Hey." Alexandria and Eva reply in unison.

"Where was it that you felt you were being followed?" Antonio asks his daughters.

"You know the city more than I do." Eva looks at Alexandria.

"Corner of Lance and Maine." Alexandria responds. Adam types in the address and brings up all of the security footage. He then looks at Alexandria ready to say something. "Answer to your next question is half an hour ago." Adam turns back around and reverses the footage by half an hour. They watch as a man continuously follows Eva and Alexandria. Adam stops the footage, zooms in on the man's face and turns back to fave Alexandria and Eva.

"I know the image isn't the best but do you girls recognise him?" Antonio asks his daughters. Alexandria recognises the man as Martin Hawkins.

"No." Eva shakes her head.

"Lexi?" Adam looks at the young girl.

"No." Alexandria lies.

"Ruzek, can you run this through facial rec. See if we get any hits?" Antonio says to Adam who nods.

"We'll find out who it is." Antonio reassures Alexandria and Eva.

"Dad, it's fine." Alexandria shakes her head. "It's probably just some creep. He most likely caught on that we knew he was following us and took off."

"Lexi, if he was following you guys because he was planning on doing something to you two then we definitely need to find out who it is before he does something to some other girls." Antonio tells Alexandria. Alexandria simply nods. "Where's Diego?"

"At a friend's house." Eva replies. "He said he'd let us know whether he wanted a lift later."

"Right, well, I'll call him, see what he's doing." Antonio states. "What are you two doing for the rest of the day?"

"I'm meeting some friends to do some studying." Eva tells him. "We've got a group presentation due next week so I better get going." She hugs Antonio and Alexandria goodbye, says goodbye to Adam and leaves.

"What about you?" Antonio looks at Alexandria. 

"I didn't really have anything planned.' Alexandria shrugs. "I was just going to head home and watch a movie or two before we meet later to train."

"Can you stick around for a while? I want to talk to you about something." Antonio questions.

"Sure." Alexandria nods. 

"Great." Antonio smiles. "Ruzek, can we have the room?"

"Sure." Adam nods. He stands up and walks out of the room, closing the door behind him. 

"Take a seat." Antonio pulls over a chair. She sits down. Antonio pulls over another chair and sits opposite her.

"So, I need your opinion on something." Antonio starts. 

"Okay." Alexandria nods. 

"I want to ask Shaylynn to marry me." He tells her. A grin creeps across Alexandria's face. 

"Don't even think about asking me if I'm okay with that!" She replies. "Just do it! She's better than Laura."

"Hey!" Antonio raises an eyebrow. "That's not very nice."

"Well, you _do_ always say that honesty is the best policy." Alexandria says. Antonio shakes his head. "And you know it's true. Don't you?" Antonio looks down. "I knew it!"

"What am I going to do with you?" He looks up, shaking his head. 

.

It gets to 7 pm. Alexandria and Antonio are at the boxing gym. Out of Alexandria, Diego and Eva, Alexandria is the only one who has a real interest in boxing. As they are putting their gloves on, they talk. 

"So, where'd you know that guy from, huh?" Antonio questions.

"What guy?" Alexandria asks.

"The one that kept following you earlier." Antonio clarifies. 

"I don't know what you mean." Alexandria shakes her head. 

"Lex, I saw the look on your face when Adam and I asked you." Antonio raises an eyebrow as he tightens the straps on his gloves. "You're a smart girl, Lexi, but you can't hide things from me. You know that."

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He turns around and they walk to the punching bags. They punch their own, individual bags. After about fifteen minutes, Antonio holds onto one for Alexandria to punch. Alexandria takes her stance and punches the bag a couple of times. "So are you going to tell me or am I going to have to find out for myself?" Alexandria punches the bag, hard, and stands up straight. Antonio also stands up straight. "What's going on Lex?"

"I've seen him around." Alexandria states. "Where I usually hang out, y'know?" She adds. "I've seen him around _too_ many times to be a coincidence."

"Why didn't you say anything?" He asks. 

"I knew that you'd go all out to try and track this guy down. And Hank." Alexandria responds.

"You defended him." Antonio reminds her.

"He's been following _me_." Alexandria says. "For God knows how long. Who knows what he'll do to me or to you guys if he finds out the police knows what he's been doing. Can we just drop the subject now? There's nothing more you can do." 

"Okay." Antonio nods. "Now, whilst we're on the topic, is there anything you'd like to tell me?"

"I _may_ have gotten into the qualifiers round for the National Boxing Tournament." Alexandria tells him.

"What?! When did you find out?" Antonio asks. 

"About an hour ago. I was gonna wait until we got home to tell you so that I could tell you and Shaylynn together." Alexandria smiles. "I guess the last seven years of training has really paid off."

"You've won competitions before." Antonio says.

"This is _the_ competition though, dad." Alexandria raises her eyebrow. "Y'know? The Golden Gloves? Kinda a big deal." Antonio's overcome with joy.

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"I'm so proud of you." Antonio beams, opening his arms. Alexandria walks towards him and they hug. "I love you." He places his head on the top of her head. 

"I love you too, dad." Alexandria smiles. "Ew, you're all sweaty." She adds after a few minutes.


	8. Chapter 8

A few days have passed. Antonio has proposed to Shaylynn. She said yes and so they've started to plan the wedding. Alexandria couldn't be happier that her dad has found true love again. To celebrate the good news, Antonio, Alexandria and Shaylynn go out for dinner at the Chicago Steakhouse. When they arrive at the steakhouse, they get out of the car and Antonio hands over the keys to the valet so that they can get the car parked. They walk into the building and are seated at a table. The waiter hands them each a menu and takes their drinks orders. He walks off and returns a few minutes later with their drinks. Whilst Antonio has a beer, Shaylynn has lemonade and Alexandria has cherry soda. 

"What are you having to eat?" Antonio asks Alexandria. Alexandria picks up the menu and reads through it, biting her bottom lip as she does. 

"I'll have the BBQ Ribs please." Alexandria says as she closes the menu. As she's doing so, her phone goes off. She takes it out of her pocket, looks at it and sees that she's got a message.

"Hey, you know the rules, no phones when we're at dinner." Antonio raises an eyebrow as he holds out his hand. "Hand it over." Alexandria sighs and hands Antonio her phone. "Thank you." He puts her phone in his pocket. "You can have it back once we leave." Ten minutes later, the waiter returns.

"Are you ready to order?" He asks.

"We are." Shaylynn nods. She then goes on to tell the waiter their order is. The waiter takes note of the order and the table number. 

"We'll get that out to you as soon as possible." The waiter smiles before walking off. 

"So, your tutor called me earlier," Shaylynn says to Alexandria, "he wants to know what time you'd like to start tomorrow." 

"I don't know." Alexandria shrugs. "Ten, maybe? Not too late, not too early."

"Okay, then." Shaylynn nods. "I'll let him know."

"Shaylynn and I will be at work tomorrow, will you be okay on your own?" Antonio asks.

"Dad, I'm seventeen." Alexandria laughs. 

"I know," Antonio nods. "but this will be your first time with him alone."

"I'll be fine." Alexandria assures him. "If anything goes wrong or I don't feel comfortable, I'll call one of you guys." She takes a sip of her drink and sees Antonio staring at her. She places her glass back down and clears her throat. "I know that you're worried given what's happened lately but I will be fine. I promise."

"As long as you're sure." Antonio states. 

"I'm sure." Alexandria nods. 

"Okay, then." Antonio also nods. "So, how's training for the gloves going?"

"Good." Alexandria smiles. "The coach seems to think that I'm more than ready."

"Well, I should hope so." Antonio laughs. "I've been training you for seven years."

"You got her into boxing when she was ten?!" Shaylynn asks Antonio.

"Technically, she kept begging me to take her down to the boxing gym. So I did." Antonio replies. "Been training her three times a week ever since, whether it's doing training at the gym or exercises at home."

"Speaking of the gloves." Shaylynn picks up her bag from the floor, opens it and takes out an envelope. "I wanted to get you something to say well-done." She hands Alexandria the envelope. Alexandria opens the envelope and takes out what's inside. As soon as she sees what it is, a smile creeps across her face.

"What is it?" Antonio asks. 

"V.I.P tickets to see Ben Platt at his Sing To Me Instead concert." Alexandria grins. "These sold out as soon as they went on sale! How did you get them?"

"I've done some private security at the Tony Awards before. The other year I met Ben Platt and then when I found out that you like him, I got in contact with him and was able to get you the tickets. You, Eva and myself. A girl's night out." Shaylynn tells her. "I may have also got him to agree to have lunch with us."

"Thank you!" Alexandria smiles. 

.

An hour and a half have passed. Antonio, Shaylynn and Alexandria are eating dessert. Antonio looks up and at a table across the room. 

"You have got to be fucking kidding me." He whispers. 

"What?" Alexandria asks. Both Shaylynn and Alexandria look where Antonio is looking. They see Martin Hawkins. Alexandria looks back at Antonio. "Dad-" 

"Wait here." Antonio stands up.

"Dad, drop it." Alexandria states.

"Lexi, this guy has been stalking you. I will certainly _not_ drop it." Antonio tells her, angrily. He walks off to Martin's table. 

"Detective Dawson." Martin smiles. "Your daughter looks pretty today."

"If you lay a finger on my daughter or on _any_ of my children I will personally hunt you down." Antonio threatens him. Back at the table, Alexandria can see how heated the conversation between Antonio and Martin is getting and starts to get worked up. Feeling a panic attack coming on, she turns to face Shaylynn. 

"I'm going to go outside for some fresh air." She tells her. Alexandria stands up, puts her jacket on and walks outside. Shaylynn, concerned about the young girl, follows her. When she walks outside, she sees Alexandria trying to calm herself down. 

"Lexi?" Alexandria turns to face Shaylynn. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." Alexandria nods. "I just needed to get out of there."

"How long has he been following you?" Shaylynn queries. 

"I have no idea." Alexandria shakes her. "I've only just started to notice him hanging around."

"Has he tried contacting you through social media or tracking down your number?" Shaylynn asks. 

"No." Alexandria lies, shaking her head. Just then, Antonio walks Martin out of the Steakhouse. When Martin sees Alexandria, he smirks. 

"I look forward to seeing you again." At this, Antonio pulls Martin back and gets in his face.

"If I catch you anywhere near my daughter again, it won't be me dealing with you." Antonio tells him, glancing at Shaylynn. "Leave." Martin smiles one last time at Alexandria before walking away. Antonio turns to face his daughter. 

"You okay?" He asks, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah." Alexandria nods. "Just seeing him again-"

"I get it." Antonio interrupts her. "If you see him again _anywhere,_ you call me or Shaylynn, okay?"

"Yeah." Alexandria nods.

"Promise?" Antonio raises his eyebrow.

"I promise." 

.

It's the next day. Alexandria and her tutor are sat in the study doing Geography. The tutor, Wayne, has noticed that Alexandria has been distracted all day.

"Lexi, are you okay?" Wayne asks her.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Alexandria replies. 

"You've been distracted all day." 

"I'm fine." Alexandria responds. 

.

It gets to the end of the session. On his way home, Wayne decides to stop by the 21st to speak to Antonio and Shaylynn. He walks into the district and up to the front desk where Trudy is.

"How can I help?" Trudy queries. 

"I need to speak with Antonio Dawson and Shaylynn Voight. It's about their daughter, Lexi. I'm her tutor, Wayne." Wayne tells her. 

"Park yourself on the bench over there." Trudy points over to the benches. "I'll call them down for you." Wayne nods and does as he's told whilst Trudy picks up the phone and calls up to Antonio. A few minutes later, Antonio and Shaylynn walk down the stairs. Wayne stands up and approaches them. 

"Wayne." Antonio smiles, shaking Wayne's hand. "Is everything okay?"

"I just wanted to talk to you about Lexi." Wayne starts. "She's fine, she's safe, but she's been a bit distracted all day - which is unusual. Something doesn't seem right." 

"Thanks, Wayne." Shaylynn nods. "We'll speak to her."

.

It's later that day, Shaylynn and Antonio arrive home. When they walk into the apartment, they see Alexandria sitting on the sofa reading. 

"Hey." Antonio smiles. Alexandria looks up and him and also smiles.

"Hey." She replies as she closes her book.

"Can we talk?" Antonio asks her. 

"Uh-oh." Alexandria laughs. Antonio and Shaylynn sit on the sofa with her. 

"Wayne dropped by the district." Shaylynn tells her. Alexandria looks down and fiddles with his fingers. "He noticed that you've been distracted all day."

"I'm fine." Alexandria looks back up and moves her hair out of her face. "Seeing that guy yesterday just caught up with me."

"Lexi-" Antonio starts to say but she cuts him off. 

"Honestly, dad, I'm fine. Yesterday was tough and I've just got to deal with that." Alexandria reassures him. 

"You'd tell me if anything was wrong, right?" Antonio asks, clearly concerned. 

"Of course." 

.

Another few days have passed, it's finally the day that Antonio and Lexi move into Shaylynn's house. They all wake up early so that they can get everything done. By 1pm, Alexandria's room is finally done. 

  
She collapses onto the bed, gets her phone out and calls Eva. 

" ** _Hello?_** "

"Hey, it's me." Alexandria says. 

" ** _Hey, Lex! What's up?_** "

"I was wondering if you wanted to meet for lunch somewhere?" Alexandria suggests. "We're moving into Shaylynn's today - I've finished unpacking and I think I should get out of the way."

" ** _Crap! I forgot about that!_** " Eva gasps causing Alexandria to laugh. " ** _I was just about to head out for lunch with Diego and mom anyway. I'll text you the address._** "

"Laura won't have a problem with you inviting me?" Alexandria queries.

" ** _Of course not!_** " Eva tells her. " ** _I'll see you in a bit. Bye._** "

"Bye." Alexandria hangs up and sits up. She stands up, walks over to her closet and gets a fresh set of clothes out. 

She gets changed, puts her phone and bank card in her pocket and heads downstairs to the kitchen where Shaylynn and Antonio are.

"I'm heading out." Alexandria informs them as she picks up her car keys from the counter.

"Okay." Antonio nods. "Be-"

"Back by ten." Alexandria nods. "I know." She kisses Antonio on the cheek and hugs Shaylynn. "Bye." She smiles.

.

Alexandria is just coming up to the busiest intersection in Chicago. Normally, she'd avoid it like the plague but to get to where she's meeting Eva, Diego and Laura, she has to pass through it. As she's waiting at the red light, she taps her fingers on the wheel. All of a sudden, she hears sirens and tyres screeching then

**_CRASH!_ **


	9. Chapter 9

Firehouse 51 are just about to settle down to eat lunch when the alarm blares.

**Truck 81, Squad 3, Ambulance 61, Battalion 25, multi-vehicle accident. Stony Island Avenue and South Chicago Avenue.**

Everyone gets up, runs out to the apparatus floor, jumps into their vehicles and makes their way to the scene of the accident.

.

When they arrive at the scene of the accident, they see police officers re-directing traffic. They pull up as close to Alexandria's car as they can possibly get and jump out. As Kelly, Matt and Boden discuss the best way to proceed, the rest of Truck and Squad survey the damage. Emily and Sylvie get the gear out of the ambulance and rush to check on Alexandria. Sylvie looks through the window and when she sees Alexandria, who has a 6cm head laceration slowly seeping blood, she gasps. 

"Lexi?" 

"Hey, Sylvie." Alexandria smiles slightly, not moving. Sylvie tries to open the foot but it won't budge. "Sylvie?" 

"Yeah?" Sylvie looks back at the young girl. 

"I - erm - I can't feel my legs." Alexandria tells her. 

"It's okay." Sylvie reassures her. "We're gonna get you out of there. Just sit tight. Don't move."

"I kinda can't." Alexandria laughs. Sylvie and Emily both laugh lightly. "I'm supposed to be meeting Eva, Diego and Laura for lunch. They'll probably be wondering where I am." She says. "Well, probably not Laura, she'll be jumping for joy that I haven't turned up."

"I'm sure that's not true." Emily shakes her head. 

"You don't know Laura." Sylvie laughs. "She hated the thought of me and Antonio dating."

"She hates the thought of _anyone_ dating my dad." Alexandria laughs. She then groans in pain.

"Lexi, where does it hurt?" Sylvie questions. 

"My stomach and my chest." Alexandria responds. 

"Anywhere else?" Emily queries. Alexandria stays silent. "Lexi?" 

"My neck." Alexandria states. 

"Foster, get the C-Collar on her. I'm going to go and update Casey, Severide and Boden." Sylvie tells Emily. Emily nods and Sylvie walks over to where Severide, Casey and Boden. Slowly, word has gotten around that the person trapped is Alexandria. 

"People are whispering." Matt starts. "Is it Lexi?"

"Yeah." Sylvie nods. "We need to get her out of there pronto. She says she can't feel her legs and she has pain in her stomach, chest and neck." All of 51 starts to surround them and so Kelly and Matt tell them the plan.

"There's no way we can get her out through the door." Kelly says. "We're going to have to take the roof off."

"I'll get into the passenger seat the keep her calm and covered whilst the roof is being taken off." Matt adds. "We keep our feelings out of this! Lexi needs us to have our heads in the game!" 

"Let's go!" Boden bellows. Everyone starts to get to work. "Brett." Boden keeps Sylvie back. She walks up to him. "Call Antonio. Let him know what's going on and to meet us at Med." Sylvie runs to the ambulance to get her phone and calls Antonio. Meanwhile, Matt is just getting into the passenger seat next to Alexandria.

"Hey, Lex." He smiles. "We're going to have to take the roof off to get you out so I'm going to place some goggles over your eyes and cover you with my turnout coat." Alexandria nods and Matt does as he said. 

"What happened to the driver that crashed into me?" Alexandria queries. 

"Let's worry about you first." He tells her. 

"Casey! Are were good to go?" Kelly shouts. 

"Yep!" Matt shouts back. 

Half an hour later, they have extricated Alexandria from the car. She's strapped to the backboard and is on the gurney. Emily and Sylvie are checking her vital signs and are checking for any other visible injuries. Matt walks over to them. 

"Your phone rang, Lex." Matt states. "It was Eva so I answered it and told her what happened. Is that okay?"

"Yeah." Alexandria smiles. "Thank you." 

"I called your dad." Sylvie states. "He's going to meet us at the hospital so don't go flatling on us, okay?"

"Why would I flatline?" Alexandria asks. 

"Your blood pressure is normal _but_ it is on the low side. Same with your oxygen levels." Emily informs her. "So we're going to blue light you to Chicago Med. Your dad and Shaylnn will meet you there." She turns to face Matt. "Can you help us load her into the Ambo?"

"Sure." Matt nods. 

.

Arriving at Chicago Med, Dr Rhodes is waiting for Ambulance 61. Given that it's a trauma and Alexandria has chest pain, he's the best doctor for her. The ambulance pulls up and the back doors open. Connor runs to the back of the ambulance and helps Sylvie get Alexandria out. 

"This is Alexandria Dawson. She's seventeen. Approximately an hour ago, she was involved in a road traffic collision. Prolonged extrication. She has pain in her chest, abdomen and neck and is complaining of loss of sensation in both legs. She lost consciousness en route." Sylvie starts the handover as they wheel Alexandria into the ED. As they wheel Alexandria into the trauma room, Emily then tells Connor Alexandria's vital signs. They line the gurney up with the bed and transfer her over. April and another nurse start hooking her up to the machines. "Antonio's on his way." Sylvie tells Connor. 

"Thank you." Connor nods. "Okay, let's get a full body trauma CT, chest x-ray and fast scan of the belly." He orders. He then presses down on various parts of her abdomen. "Abdomen is tender." April looks at the monitors.

"She's crashing!"

.

It has been six hours. Alexandria was rushed into surgery. Antonio and Shaylynn are both sat in the surgical waiting room. The rest of the intelligence unit have joined them. 

"Why hasn't anyone been out yet?" Antonio questions. 

"No news is good news, right?" Shaylynn tells him, taking his hand. 

"Lexi's strong, Antonio." Adam states. "She'll pull through." Just then, Connor walks into the waiting area. Both Antonio and Shaylynn stand up.

"How is she?" Antonio asks. 

"She's out of surgery and in recovery." Connor nods. "However, she's not out of the woods yet." He adds. "She had major internal bleeding which we were able to stop. She had some trauma to her chest which caused more damage to her heart. We carried out some tests and found that her heart function is lower than what it should be."

"Meaning what?" Antonio queries. 

"She's going to need a heart transplant in the next year or-" Connor starts but then stops.

"Or what?" Shaylynn asks. Connor looks at them with sympathy in his eyes. 

"Or she'll die?" Antonio's eyes widen.

"I'm afraid so, yes." Connor nods. "I am so sorry." Shaylynn's grip on Antonio's hand tightens. 

"What about her legs? Why- why couldn't she feel them?" Antonio stutters.

"We don't know." Connor shakes his head. "Nothing came up on the CT scan so we're going to send her for an MRI scan and once she wakes up, we will be able to investigate further."

"What other injuries does she have?" Shaylynn queries.

"During surgery, her left lung collapsed so we put in a chest tube." Connor replies. "Other than that, she has no other injuries. It looked worse than what it was."

"Can we go and see her?" Antonio questions.

"We're still settling her at the moment. You'll be able to go and see her in about half an hour." Connor says. "I'm afraid at this point it's family only. She'll be sedated throughout the night but we will start taking her off the sedation tomorrow morning. From then, it will be up to her to wake up." He continues. "A nurse will come and get you when you can go and see her."

"Thank you, Connor." Antonio shakes his hand.

"No problem." Connor nods. "I'll give you a proper update tomorrow." He then walks away.

"We're going to head off." Voight tells Antonio and Shaylynn. "We'll come back at some point tomorrow."

"Thanks, dad." Shaylynn smiles slightly. He walks over to her and Antonio, kisses her on the cheek and shakes Antonio's hand. "Make sure you both get some sleep."

"We will." Antonio nods. Voight leaves followed by the rest of intelligence. As they all walk past Antonio and Shaylynn, they give them their best wishes. Once everyone has left, Antonio and Shaylynn sit back down. As they do, Antonio gets his phone out. "I better text Eva and Diego to give them an update. They probably won't sleep until they find out that she's okay." He brings up Eva's and Diego's numbers and sends them a message informing them of the basis of Alexandria's condition and that they can visit her in the morning.' 

"I'm going to go and grab a coffee." Shaylynn tells him, standing up. "Do you want one?"

"Sure." Antonio nods. Shaylynn smiles and walks off. 

Five minutes later, Matt walks into the waiting area.

"Hey, Antonio." Matt says. Antonio looks up at him and stands up.

"Hey." They both share a manly hug.

"How is she?" Matt queries as they sit down. Antonio tells him exactly what Connor told him. "I am so sorry, Antonio." Matt sympathises. "Does Gabby know?"

"I called her earlier." Antonio nods. 

"Everyone at 51 has been worrying about her all day." Matt states.

"I don't blame yous. You've all known her for over six years." Antonio laughs. "You're more than welcome to come and visit her whenever you want. She'll probably be here for a week or two, maybe more." 

"We will definitely be by." Matt nods. "I better get back to the station. We all get off shift tomorrow morning so we'll probably come by some time tomorrow." He then stands up. "Stay strong. For Lex." Antonio smiles and Matt leaves. As he does, Shaylynn returns. She hands Antonio his coffee and sits down. 

"I was doing some thinking and I thought that seeing as I've got my guys keeping an eye on Lexi and making sure this stalker doesn't do anything to her, I should introduce her to them. That way, if she ever finds herself in trouble and is too scared to come to me or you or anyone else in intelligence, she can go to them. Like I've said before, they're like brothers to me and have always, and always will, look out for me and those that I care about and love." Shaylynn suggests.

"You know Lexi, if she thinks she's going to bother people by constantly going to them with her problems, she'll just leave it." Antonio raises an eyebrow.

"Trust me." Shaylynn states. "These guys can find out anything about anybody - when Lexi finds that out - she won't want to hide things from them." They spend the next twenty minutes talking until a nurse walks out to them.

"Mr and Mrs Dawson?" Shaylynn and Antonio look up at the nurse. "You can go and sit with your daughter now. She's on the ICU. Room 2." Shaylynn smiles at being called ' _Mrs Dawson_ ' and Alexandria being referred to as _their_ daughter and not just Antonio's. 

"Thank you." Antonio smiles and nods. The nurse walks away and Antonio and Shaylynn stand up and make their way to the Intensive Care Unit.

.

It's the next morning. Antonio and Shaylynn are sat in the chairs beside Alexandria's bed, sleeping when Eva walks in. She drops her bag on the floor causing Antonio and Shaylynn to wake up.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you guys up." Eva apologises. 

"No, it's okay." Antonio yawns. "What time is it?"

"Nine." Eva replies. "I bumped into Dr Rhodes on the way up. He said that he'll come in and talk to us about Lexi in about 10 to 15 minutes."

"I take it Diego is at school?" Shaylynn asks. 

"Yeah." Eva nods. "I told him that I'd pick him up from school and bring him here."

"What about you? Shouldn't you be in class?" Antonio raises an eyebrow. 

"I don't have any today." Eva shakes her head. "There's some event on campus so all classes have bee cancelled." She sits down in the third chair. "Lex will be fine, right?"

"She's stubborn." Antonio laughs. "She'll get through it."

"In the text last night, you said that there was something serious about her condition." Eva states.

"I'll talk to you about it when Diego gets here later." Antonio tells her.

"It's bad, isn't it?" Eva asks. Antonio stays silent. "Dad?"

"It's bad." Shaylynn nods, answering for him. Connor then walks in. 

"Good morning." He nods as he sanitises his hands. 

"Morning." They all say in unison. 

"So, we started reducing Lexi's sedation at about 6 o'clock this morning so hopefully she will wake up this afternoon or this evening." Connor tells them. "Her oxygen levels have improved and her blood pressure has stabilised. Her surgical incisions are fine. There's no redness or inflammation and her chest drain looks good." He adds. "Now, Shaylyn and Antonio, I've organised for you to speak with our transplant team."

"Transplant team?" Eva asks, confused. Connor looks at Antonio.

"Dad?" Eva hints for him to tell her what's going on. He sighs and turns in his chair to face her.

"There has been so much damage to her heart that it's starting to fail." Antonio informs her. "She needs a heart transplant. If she doesn't get a new heart in the next year, she'll die." Eva looks at her sister, tears in her eyes.

"We'll be starting her on some medication to help slow down the heart failure." Connor adds. 

"Where is she on the list?" Eva asks him.

"She's quite low down at the moment." Connor says. "Purely because she's so young and we haven't completed all of the necessary tests to determine her position on the list." His phone then beeps and he looks at it. "I have to go. If Lexi wakes up before I come back, get a nurse to page me."

"We will." Antonio nods. 

.

It gets to 3pm. Eva has left the hospital to go and pick Diego up from school. Antonio and Shaylynn are talking when they hear a groan. They look at Alexandria and see that she's trying to wake up. Antonio immediately sits forward and grabs onto her had.

"Lex?" He asks. "Lex, come on sweetie, open your eyes." Alexandria's eyes start to slowly open. 

"I guess the gloves are out of the window." She sighs weakly.


	10. Chapter 10

"Oh, thank God you're okay." Antonio sighs with relief. 

"I'm a Dawson, dad. We're stubborn." Alexandria laughs but then winces in pain. 

"Hey, take it easy." Shaylynn tells her. "You had surgery yesterday." 

"Surgery?" Alexandria questions. Shaylynn and Antonio look at each other concerned. "Don't worry." She tells them. "I remember what happened - I was in a car accident - why did they have to take me into surgery?" Just then, Connor walks into the room. 

"Looks like I came in to check on you at just the right time." Connor smiles. "How are you feeling, Lexi?"

"Sore." Alexandria replies. "Why did you guys have to take me into surgery?" She asks, her voice becoming hoarse. 

"Before we go any further," Connor turns to the bedside table, pours a cup of water, turns back to Alexandria and hands her the cup, "take a drink." Alexandria gulps down the water and hands the empty cup back to Connor. He places it back on the bedside table and sits in one of the empty chairs beside Alexandria's bed. 

"It's bad, isn't it?" Alexandria queries. 

"Yeah." Connor nods. "We had to rush you into surgery because you had some major internal bleeding. There's no damage to the brain from the head injury which is good. You developed a collapsed lung whilst in surgery so we've had to place a chest drain." Connor explains. "Now, your heart function is way lower than what it should be for your age. Your heart is failing. You need a heart transplant in the next year or you'll die."

"But I'm only seventeen. How can be heart not be functioning?" Alexandria states confused. "I eat healthily, I exercise, I do yoga."

"Sometimes even the healthiest people have problems with their heart." Connor tells her. "With everything that has happened to your heart before with the cardiomyopathy, the heart hasn't had enough time to heal. The accident yesterday added extra stress and pressure on your heart, particularly with the chest trauma." He continues. "About your legs. I want to do a quick test to see if you can feel anything. Is that okay?"

"Yeah." Alexandria nods. Connor stands up, grabs a reflex hammer from one of the drawers in the supply trolley and walks to the foot of the bed. He lifts the blanket up slightly and moves it out the way. 

"I want you to close your eyes and tell me if you can feel anything." Connor informs her. He then strokes the sole of her right foot with the reflex hammer. "Did you feel anything?"

"Yes!" Alexandria grins.

"How about now?" Connor asks as he strokes the sole of her left foot.

"Yeah! I felt that." Alexandria smiles. Connor then steps back. 

"Now?" He queries, not doing anything. 

"Yeah." Alexandria nods. 

"Perfect." Connor smiles. "You can open your eyes now." Alexandria opens her eyes. "Antonio, Shaylynn, can I have a word outside please?" 

"Sure." They both nod. 

"We'll be back in just a moment, Lexi, okay?" Connor says. Alexandria nods and watches as the three of them walk out of the room, Connor closing the door behind them. He leads Shaylynn and Antonio to the nurse's station.

"What was that about?" Antonio questions. "She said she could feel that hammer but you didn't even press it to her foot."

"She was lying because she wants it to be true." Shaylynn answers for Connor. "Lexi will do or say anything to stay out of hospital or be discharged as soon as, won't she?"

"Yeah." Antonio nods, sighing. "So why can't she feel anything yet?"

"I'm going to get the head of neurosurgery, Doctor Abrams, to look at the scans from last night as a second opinion." Connor states. "It was the on-call neuro resident that reviewed them last night. There may be something on the scans that we may have missed. I'll go and speak to him now. You two go back to being with your daughter. I'll be back with news." Antonio and Shaylynn nod and walk back to Alexandria's room. After a few moments, Connor walks off to the neurosurgery floor to find Dr Abrams.

.

When Connor reaches the neurosurgery floor, he heads to Dr Abrams' office with an IPad in his hands. He knocks on the door.

"Come in!" He hears Dr Abrams shouts. He twists the handle and walks into the office. Dr Abrams looks up briefly and then back at his computer screen. "Dr Rhodes, to what do I owe the pleasure."

"I need you to review some scans and notes for me." Connor states.

"Of what, Rhodes?"

"A CT and MRI of a seventeen-year-old girl's spine and brain." Connor replies. "She was in a car accident yesterday afternoon. She was complaining of loss of sensation in her legs which hasn't come back. Your on-call resident looked at the scans last night an said that there was nothing there. I think something was missed." Dr Abrams sighs and holds out his hand. Dr Rhodes walks up to him and hands over the IPad. Dr Abrams takes it, looks through the scans and reads over the notes. After five minutes, he hands the IPad back. "Let's go take a look at this girl. I want to do a full neuro exam." Connor nods and takes Dr Abrams to Alexandria's room on the ICU floor. 

When they walk into Alexandria's room, they see that Eva and Diego have arrived.

"This is Dr Abrams. He's our head of neurosurgery." Connor introduces Dr Abrams to them. "He'd like to carry out a full neurological exam on Lexi." They all look at Alexandria.

"Sure." She nods.

"I'll need some more space so could you all step outside?" Dr Abrams asks. "I won't be long." Everyone, including Connor, nods and steps out of the room. Dr Abrams closes the door and starts the neuro exam. 

After fifteen minutes, Dr Abrams exits the room and pulls Connor to one side. "There's nothing neurologically wrong with her." He shakes his head. "Call psychiatry." Connor looks at him confused. "Have you ever come across a case of conversion disorder?"

"A couple." Connor nods. It then hits him. "Oh." He exhales with realisation. 

"Next time, call psyche first before coming to me. My residents and attendings are _never_ wrong." He then walks off. Connor spins around and walks back over to Shaylynn, Antonio, Eva and Diego. 

"Lexi is fine." Connor assures them. "There are no neurological deficits."

"So why can't she feel her legs then?" Eva queries. 

"We believe she has something called conversion disorder." Connor states.

"What's that?" Antonio questions.

"When someone goes through something stressful or traumatic, sometimes, they experience maybe blindness, paralysis or any other neurological symptoms that we can't medically explain." Connor explains. "In Lexi's case, it's lower body paralysis and loss of sensation."

"So what's the next step?" Shaylynn questions.

"We get Dr Charles from psychiatry to come and talk to her. She knows him so it may be a whole lot easier to start treatment. Usually, we'd want to get her started on physiotherapy but given that she's not even a day out of major surgery, we're going to leave it for a few days to a week to allow her body to start the healing process." Connor replies.

"When will she be able to come home?" Antonio asks. 

"At this point, it's hard to say." Connor shakes his head. "It depends on how well she recovers from the surgery, how quickly she gets back on her feet and what her heart function is like. It could be two weeks, it could be a month."

"She's not going to like that." Eva laughs. 

"No, she's not." Antonio shakes his head. He then looks at Connor. "You better get your security on high alert."

.

It's the next morning. Dr Charles walks into Alexandria's room.

"Morning Lexi." He smiles as he sits down.

"Good morning." Alexandria smiles back. 

"Do you mind if we have a chat about what happened the other day?" 

"Did my mom and dad put you up to this?" Alexandria raises an eyebrow.

"Believe it or not, no they didn't." Dr Charles shakes his head. "It was Dr Rhodes." He tells her. "Being in a car accident is quite traumatic, especially when you're so young."

"And with the prospect of dying in the next year." Alexandria adds. 

"Yeah." Dr Charles nods. "How does that make you feel?" There are a few moments of silence.

"Scared." Alexandria states. "Despite always being sick or injured as a child, I've never even thought about the prospect of dying."

"Not many people your age do." Dr Charles tells her. "The main reason that Dr Rhodes called me in to speak to you was because of your legs?"

"My legs?" Alexandria asks confused. 

"You've been complaining about loss of sensation in your legs and not being able to move them." Dr Charles says. "When Dr Rhodes did a sensation test earlier, he did it as a set of three, right?"

"Yeah." Alexandria nods. 

"When he did it the third time, you said you felt something." Dr Charles says. "He didn't do anything." Alexandria looks down. "I know that you just want to get out of here but you need to be truthful."

"I know." Alexandria sighs. 

"Dr Abrams also couldn't find anything on your CT and MRI scans that would describe the loss of sensation and paralysis." Dr Charles tells her. 

"I'm not faking it!" Alexandria remarks more aggressively than she intended.

"I'm not saying you are." Dr Charles shakes his head. "You have something called conversion disorder." He informs her. "You've gone through something so stressful that it's caused neurological symptoms. So the loss of sensation and paralysis you're experiencing is real."

"So how do I get rid of it then?" Alexandria queries. 

"We're going to start you on some physiotherapy as soon as you've been cleared." Dr Charles responds. "We'll start small, so just getting out of bed and getting into the chair and then getting around this room and so on."

"Will that lengthen how long I have to stay in hospital for?" Alexandra questions.

"It all depends on how well physiotherapy goes." Dr Charles tells her. Alexandria throws her head back and groans. "Shaylynn and Antonio mentioned you got into the qualifiers for the Golden Gloves."

"Yeah." Alexandria nods her head. "I definitely won't be able to take part now, though. Heart failure is one of the many conditions that excludes someone from taking part."

"When are they supposed to be?" 

"Two months." Alexandria responds. "I'm not as annoyed as I thought I'd be." She adds. "I do boxing for fun, it's not what I want to do with the rest of my life."

"What do you want to do?" Dr Charles asks.

"I'm not sure." Alexandria shrugs. "I've always been interested in graphic design, but I don't know. I don't know how they expect us to make a decision that could potentially affect the rest of our lives so young."

"It's hard." Dr Charles nods. "It's stressful but choosing what you want to do at college will be the hardest decision you will ever have to make." There are a few moments of silence. "You referred to Shaylynn as your mom earlier."

"She more or less is." Alexandria shrugs. "She's marrying my dad and she treats me like her own. She's _way_ better than my step-mom before her."

"Your brother and sister's mom?" Dr Charles asks.

"Yeah." Alexandria nods. "I'm not gonna lie, she also treated me as her own but also different to Eva and Diego. She'd favour them, they always came first in her eyes. If we were ever alone in the house together, just me and her, she'd ignore me. I don't blame her, though. I mean, I _was_ the result of an affair. It was a one-off mistake, dad was undercover and one thing led to another. Laura stayed with him because Eva was only a newborn then and she, of course, needed all the support. She didn't expect that just over a year later, dad would be walking in the door with me because my mom was a junkie and OD'd. He didn't want me to go into the system so obviously, he took over custody. "

"Did your dad know about how your step-mom felt towards you?" Dr Charles queries.

"He didn't need to know." Alexandria shakes her head. "It wouldn't have made a difference anyway. Dad was smitten with her back then. It broke him when she left him taking Eva and Diego with her." She continues. "She left because he was a cop." She scoffs. "He wouldn't quit so she left. I mean, she knew what she was getting herself into when she married my dad. She knew that she'd have to deal with the possibility of him getting shot every time he walks out the door."

"How do you handle that?" Dr Charles asks. "The fear of seeing your dad healthy in the morning and then the next-"

"I'm used to it." Alexandria cuts him off. "I know that his teammates have his back. Always."

"Hank Voight does keep a tight unit, doesn't he?" Dr Charles laughs. He then looks at his watch. "I have to go and check on another patient. I will come back and speak to you tomorrow if that's okay?"

"Sure." Alexandria nods. Dr Charles stands up. 

"I'll see you tomorrow then." Dr Charles smiles.

"Bye." Alexandria smiles and with that, Dr Charles leaves her on her own. 

After ten minutes, someone walks into Alexandria's room.

"What are you doing here?!" 


	11. Chapter 11

"What are you doing here?!" Alexandria asks the man who has just walked into her hospital room. Martin Hawkins smirks at her. "If my mom and dad catch you here they will kill you."

"I Just wanted to see how you were doing," Martin tells her, "after you text me saying that you were in a car crash, I was worried."

"You could've called," Alexandria raises an eyebrow, "instead of risking your life."

"It would be worth it." Martin smiles.

"Look, you really need to go. I'll call you later." 

"Fine." Martin sighs. "Remember our agreement." 

"I'll get them to you by tomorrow." Alexandria nods. "I promise."

"Good." Martin smiles before walking out. 

.

A few hours have gone by. Eva is sat with Alexandria.

"You okay?" Eva asks. "You've been very quiet this morning."

"I'm fine." Alexandria smiles and nods.

"Come on, Lex." Eva raises an eyebrow. "What is it?" Alexandria thinks quickly to come up with an excuse.

"It's just hit me that I won't be able to compete or do anything physical for quite a while," Alexandria says, "weeks, I can handle; months, I can try and handle but a year? I can't handle a year."

"There's nothing stopping you," Eva tells her, "you're just going to have to take it easy."

"Have you met me?" Alexandria laughs. 

"Well, we both know that dad will wrap you up in bubble wrap as soon as you're discharged." Eva states. "He's protective of all of us but out of you, Diego and myself, you're the one he worries about most."

"Yeah." Alexandria sighs.

"I don't blame him." Eva shakes her head. "I mean, firstly, you live with him, Diego and I don't. Secondly, with everything that has happened, not just recently but when you were a baby, it's made him wearier and aware that anything can happen to anyone. Even the best people." Alexandria smiles slightly.

"I want to try and get out of bed." Alexandria states.

"Lex, the docs have said you need to wait a couple of days for your body to start to heal and even then, you need to wait for physical therapy to evaluate you first so that they can decide the best course of action." Eva tries to talk some sense into her even though she knows it's no use. 

"The Ben Platt concert is in a month," Alexandria replies, "there is _no_ chance in hell I am missing it."

"Lexi, if you try to get out of bed now, you risk injuring yourself more," Eva tells her, "which will mean you will be here longer. Just wait the next few days until you get given the all-clear."

"Fine." Alexandria gives in.

"It's only a few days," Eva says, "you can hold onto until then. Besides, you've still got the chest tube in."

"I need you to do me a favour," Alexandria tells Eva, "but you can't tell _anyone_ about it."

"Lexi-"

"Mom and dad forgot to bring my laptop so I need you to go to the house and get it for me." Alexandria informs her. "In the top drawer of my desk, there's a brown envelope. I need you to bring that as well."

"What's in it?" Eva queries. 

"It doesn't matter." Alexandria shakes her head. "I just need it." She sees that Eva looks hesitant. "Please."

"Fine." Eva nods. "I'll be back in an hour or so." She stands up and leaves. Once she's gone, Alexandria picks up her phone and calls Martin. 

"Come to the hospital at 9 am tomorrow. Disguise yourself as a bank nurse. I'll put the envelope under my pillow." She hangs up and throws her head back. 

"Everything okay?" Connor asks her walking in.

"Yeah." Alexandria smiles, looking back up. "I just want to get back on my feet."

"We're going to work on that in a few days." Connor tells her. "Where did your sister go?"

"She went to get my laptop, mom and dad forgot to pack it in my bag." Alexandria replies. "My tutor will most likely be coming here to do my school work."

"Have you decided what you want to do once you've finished high school?" Connor questions.

"Nope." Alexandria sighs popping the 'p'. "I might not even make it that far."

"Hey!" Connor pretends to be offended. "I like to think that I'm _very_ successful in saving people's lives."

"Sorry." Alexandria laughs gently. "I'm still coming to terms with everything." 

"That's normal." Connor nods as he sits on the edge of the bed. "Did Dr Charles come and speak to you this morning?"

"Yeah."

"So he told you about why you can't feel your legs or move them?" He queries and she nods. "We're going to start you on some physical therapy in a few days. However, first, I need to check your surgical incisions are healing. I'll have a listen to your chest and see if we can take the chest tube out. Is that okay?"

"Knock yourself out." Alexandria smiles and nods. Connor stands up and starts checking the surgical incisions. Once he's satisfied that there's no infection, he listens to her chest with the stethoscope. He furrows his eyebrows. "What is it?" Alexandria asks. 

"Your air entry still isn't equal." Connor shakes his head. "It's improved massively but it's not enough to take out the chest tube yet."

"Why hasn't it improved yet?" Alexandria questions. 

"Fo some people, it improves quite quickly. For other people, it doesn't." Connor explains. "However, I think in your case, it's down to your heart failure. We'll have to do some scans and tests to make sure."

"Ugh." Alexandria groans. "Which means you'll have to push the physical therapy back?" 

"Most likely." Connor nods. "I know it's not what you wanted to hear, but we don't want to risk you getting hurt even more. Your other surgical incisions are healing perfectly fine. There's no redness or inflammation so there's no infection."

"Will I have scars?" Alexandria questions. 

"It's a possibility." Connor nods. "A very slight possibility though." He can see that Alexandria didn't want to hear that. "If you do end up having scars, there are oils and creams that you can use to reduce the appearance of them." He then looks at the monitors and notes down Alexandria's vitals. "Are your mom and dad coming soon?"

"They'll be by later." Alexandria nods. "Intelligence are investigating this massive case and they're needed there so I told them to just come later on."

"I'll speak to them when they get here then." Connor smiles. "I'll be back later for evening rounds."

.

It's 9 am the next morning. Martin walks into Alexandria's room wearing a nurse's uniform. He has a clipboard in his hand. He walks to the side of the bed and pretends that he's checking on Alexandria. 

"It's under my pillow." Alexandria says quietly. Martin reaches under Alexandria's pillow and takes it. He looks into it and smiles. He then places the envelope behind the papers on the clipboard. 

"I'll be in touch." He tells her. ****


	12. Chapter 12

It's 9 am the next morning. Martin walks into Alexandria's room wearing a nurse's uniform. He has a clipboard in his hand. He walks to the side of the bed and pretends that he's checking on Alexandria.

"It's under my pillow." Alexandria says quietly. Martin reaches under Alexandria's pillow and takes it. He looks into it and smiles. He then places the envelope behind the papers on the clipboard.

"I'll be in touch." He tells her. Alexandria nods and Martin leaves.

.

It has been a few days. Alexandria is sat up in bed with her laptop on the table. She's doing some work that her tutor has given her. 

"How's my favourite niece doing?" She hears someone ask. She looks up and sees that Gabby is stood in the doorway. 

"Gabby!" Alexandria gasps. Gabby walks into the room, to Alexandria's bedside and hugs her. Once they've parted, Gabby sits down and Alexandria closes her laptop and pushes the table to one side. 

"Your dad called me to tell me what happened." Gabby tells her. "I came here as soon as I could." 

'You didn't have to.' Alexandria replies. 'We could have just face-timed like we usually do.' 

"My brother finds out that his daughter could die in the next year if she doesn't get a heart transplant - of course, I was going to come here."

"Right." Alexandria laughs slightly. "How's Puerto Rico been?"

"Good." Gabby nods. "It's very rewarding. I miss you guys though."

"Then come back."

"Lex-" Gabby starts. 

"I know." Alexandria sighs. "Your life is in Puerto Rico now." She adds. "Does dad know that you're here?"

"Yeah." Gabby nods. "He's on his way. I called him when I was outside the hospital to see where you were.' She continues. 'How are you coping with everything?"

"If you mean how am I coping with the prospect of dying within the next year, I've come to terms with it." Alexandria replies. "However, if you mean how am I coping with being in the hospital and stuck in bed, I am _hating_ it." Gabby laughs a little. "They've had to push my PT back because they could only take the chest tube out yesterday so I've got to wait _another_ few days for that to heal before I can start to move around properly."

"You'll get there." Gabby reassures her. "Why don't we talk about something else?" She suggests. "What's this Shaylynn like?" A massive grin creeps across Alexandria's face. 

"She's amazing." Alexandria smiles. "She's way better than Laura." She sees that Gabby has an eyebrow raised. "What? Laura's not my mom, I can say what I like about her."

"It's still not nice." Gabby tells her. "I know you two didn't get along nut she did take care of you." 

"I know," Alexandria sighs, "but you gotta admit, she has been a bit of dick since the divorce, and that was _years_ ago."

"Lexi!" Gabby laughs. 

"You're not denying it." Alexandria points out.

"Just because I agree with you it doesn't mean you can say things like that." Gabby says. Alexandria's phone pings. She picks it up from the side table and looks at the message she has just received.

**From: MH**

**Boss wants to meet you. We'll arrange a date and time to meet once you're out of the hospital.**

Alexandria replies with ' _okay, I'll keep you updated '_ before deleting the messages and placing the phone back down on the side table. 

"Boyfriend?" Gabby asks intrigued. 

"Don't have one." Alexandria shakes her head. "It was just a friend asking how I am." She lies. "Speaking of friends, have you been to see anyone at 51 yet?"

"No." Gabby shakes her head. "I wanted to see you first."

"Do they even know that you're in Chicago?" Alexandria questions. 

"I've been so focused on making sure that you're okay that I haven't even thought about telling anyone." Gabby responds. Just then, Antonio and Shaylynn walk into the room. 

"Gabby." Antonio grins. 

"Hey, Antonio." Gabby smiles as she stands up and walks over to Antonio. They both hug. "How you holding up?" She asks as they part.

"Well, Lexi is taking this a _whole_ lot better than I am." Antonio replies. 

"Well, you're her father." Gabby states. "It's to be expected."

"Anyways, Gabby, this is Shaylynn." Antonio introduces Shaylynn to Gabby. He then turns to face Shaylynn. "Shaylynn, this is Gabby, my sister."

"It's nice to finally meet you." Shaylynn smiles as she extends a hand.

"I take it that Antonio hasn't told you that we're a 'hugging' family." Gabby laughs.

"Gabby gives _the best_ hugs." Alexandria tells Shaylynn. 

"What about my hugs?" Antonio asks offended.

"Meh." Alexandria shrugs. Both Shaylynn and Gabby laughs before hugging. 

"It's nice to meet you too." Gabby nods. They all sit around Alexandria's bed. 

"Did you have a good sleep?" Shaylynn asks Alexandria. 

"Yeah." Alexandria nods. "I can sleep a bit better now that the chest tube is out." 

"That's good." Antonio smiles. "Listen, Shaylynn and I need to talk to you about something."

"Antonio, maybe now isn't the best time or place." Shaylynn shakes her head. 

"It's okay." Alexandria says. "I need something to take my mind off _still_ being stuck in bed." Antonio looks at Shaylynn and nods. "It's nothing bad, is it?"

"No, no." Antonio shakes his head. "Not at all." 

"We're going to move the wedding forward." Shaylynn tells her. "We're still going to do the Disney but-"

"With the news about me and my heart, you want to do it before I-" Alexandria says. The room is completely silent apart from the slow beeps of the heart monitors.

"We're going to talk to doctor Rhodes about getting you a 'day pass' out of here so that we can go to the courthouse," Antonio says after a few minutes. "We were going to wait until you were discharged to do so but you could be here for quite a while and we want to do it as soon as possible." Alexandria breaks down crying. "Hey, hey. It's okay." He says softly as he strokes her head.

"I don't want to die." She sobs as she shakes her head. "I'm too young to die."

"Lexi, you are _not_ going to die." Shaylynn reassures the young girl. "We're going to find you a new heart. I promise."

"You can't make promises like that." Alexandria states, wiping her eyes and trying to compose herself. "I'll be too low on the list because of the accident and we all know how hard it is for doctors to find a perfect match." As she's trying to compose herself, she finds it harder and harder to breathe. 

"Lexi?" Antonio asks. "She can't breathe." He realises. 

"I'll go and find a nurse." Gabby stands up and rushes out of the room.


	13. Chapter 13

"I don't want to die." Alexandria sobs as she shakes her head. "I'm too young to die."

"Lexi, you are _not_ going to die." Shaylynn reassures the young girl. "We're going to find you a new heart. I promise."

"You can't make promises like that." Alexandria states, wiping her eyes and trying to compose herself. "I'll be too low on the list because of the accident and we all know how hard it is for doctors to find a perfect match." As she's trying to compose herself, she finds it harder and harder to breathe.

"Lexi?" Antonio asks. "She can't breathe." He realises.

"I'll go and find a nurse." Gabby stands up and rushes out of the room. She runs back in a minute later with Connor. Connor takes his stethoscope and listens to Alexandria's chest. Once he's done that, he puts his stethoscope down, puts one hand on her shoulder and with his other hand, he holds her hand.

"Lexi, take some deep breaths." Connor tells her. "Match my breathing." He takes some deep breaths and Alexandria imitates them. After a couple of minutes, her breathing has returned to normal. Connor looks at Antonio and Shaylynn. "It was just a panic attack." He says as he stands up straight. "It's nothing to worry about." Antonio, Shaylynn and Gabby sigh with relief. "I'll get-"

"Please," Alexandria sighs, "please don't say that you'll get Dr Charles to speak to me. It was just a panic attack. That doesn't warrant a psychiatrist taking valuable time to talk to me when they can be talking to someone who desperately needs it."

"She's not going to change her mind." Antonio tells him. Connor looks at Antonio. "We'll keep an eye on her." Connor simply nods. "Connor, whilst we've got you here, can we talk to you about something?"

"Sure." Connor nods.

"Shaylynn and I weren't planning on getting married for a while but given the circumstances, we want to get married in a courthouse here in Chicago." Antonio starts.

"I see where this is going." Connor catches on. "You guys want a day pass for Lexi so she can go."

"Yeah." Shaylynn nods.

"I'll speak to Ms Goodwin and see what we can do." Connor smiles.

"Thank you." Antonio nods appreciatively. Connor smiles and walks out. Shaylynn and Antonio sit back down.

"I'm going to head to 51 and say hello to everyone." Gabby states. "They should be on shift." She adds. "If I don't come back later, I'll be by tomorrow sometime."

"Say hi to everyone for me." Alexandria tells her.

"I will." Gabby nods. They all say goodbye before Gabby walks out.

Meanwhile, Connor is walking up to Ms Goodwin's office. He knocks on the door and walks in, closing the door behind him. Ms Goodwin looks up from her desk.

"Doctor Rhodes." Ms Goodwin smiles. "What can I do for you?"

"It's about Alexandria Dawson." Connor starts.

"How _is_ Lexi?" Ms Goodwin asks.

"Heart function isn't improving at all. The paralysis is still there buts Doctor Charles and myself are confident that with psychotherapy and physiotherapy she'll regain 100% of sensation and mobility within a few weeks." Connor explains. "As for the chest tube, I'm hoping I can remove that tomorrow. The heart failure is making it harder for the pneumothorax to heal."

"Poor girl." Ms Goodwin sympathises. "How are Detective Dawson and Miss Voight handling everything?"

"Let's just say Lexi is handling this situation a little bit better than them." Connor replies. "That brings me onto the reason why I came to speak to you." He says. "Antonio and Shaylynn had their wedding planned for later in the year but given the situation, they want to bring the wedding forward and have it at a courthouse. They want authorisation for a day pass so that Lexi can go."

"If she were to go, would she be safe? Is there a risk of infection or cardiac arrest?" Ms Goodwin queries.

"If she stays in a wheelchair, stays on the oxygen and keeps her fluids connected, she'll be fine." Connor nods.

"Then I don't see why there'd be a problem." Ms Goodwin shakes her head. "I only have one condition. You and another doctor need to be present just in case anything happens."

"Thank you." Connor smiles and nods. "I'll let Antonio and Shaylynn know."

"I'd like to come too." Ms Goodwin says as she stands up.

"Of course." Connor nods. They both walk out of the room and to the ICU and to Alexandria's room. They look in and see that Alexandria is curled up in a ball sleeping. When Antonio and Shaylynn see them standing outside of the room, they join them.

"She fell asleep just after you left." Shaylynn tells Connor. "She could barely keep her eyes open."

"Fatigue and tiredness are common in patients with the degree of heart failure that Lexi has." Connor nods. "She'll become tired a lot and that will get progressively worse as the heart failure gets worse."

"She's acting like she's taken all of this in, but she hasn't." Antonio shakes his head. "My daughter is _extremely_ good at putting on a brave face." He adds. "I just go along with it because it makes her feel better. When it gets serious, that's when I get involved."

"When she's discharged, you'll have to keep a close eye on her." Connor tells Antonio and Shaylynn. "I've gathered that Lexi is stubborn and that she'll want to get back to her usual routine."

"Which consists of runs, gym workouts and boxing." Antonio nods.

"Our occupational health department will speak to you all about ways to adjust to the situation." Ms Goodwin assures them. "Now, Doctor Rhodes has informed me that you want to be able to take Lexi out of the hospital for a day so that you can get married just in case the worst should happen and seeing as Lexi will most definitely be a long term patient, I am more than happy to sign off on it."

"Thank you." Shaylynn nods.

"I only have one condition." Ms Goodwin continues. "Doctor Rhodes and one other doctor must be present just in case."

"Of course." Antonio nods.

"We figured that would be the case." Shaylynn adds.

"We'll let you get back to your daughter." Ms Goodwin says. "Just let me know a few days before you plan on getting married and I'll put everything into motion." Antonio and Shaylynn nod before returning to Alexandria's room.

~

The next morning, Alexandria is sat up in bed when Connor walks in with a tray ready for if he can take the chest drain out.

"Good morning, Lexi." Connor smiles.

"Morning." Alexandria smiles back.

"I'm going to run some quick checks on you to see if it's safe for me to remove the chest drain, is that okay?"

"Of course." Alexandria nods and Connor starts on the checks. After about five minutes, he's finished. He gets some gloves out of his pocket and opens out the tray.

"You'll be pleased to here that your oxygen levels and air entry are both good enough for me to remove the chest tube." Connor informs her.

"Thank God!" Alexandria sighs with relief. "This thing is hella uncomfortable." Connor laughs slightly and starts the procedure.

Just as Connor is finishing the procedure, Alexandria's phone pings. She waits for him to be completely finished before picking her phone up from the table and reading the message she has just received.

**_All systems go_ **


	14. Chapter 14

Alexandria is sat up in bed when Connor walks in with a tray ready for if he can take the chest drain out.

"Good morning, Lexi." Connor smiles.

"Morning." Alexandria smiles back.

"I'm going to run some quick checks on you to see if it's safe for me to remove the chest drain, is that okay?"

"Of course." Alexandria nods and Connor starts on the checks. After about five minutes, he's finished. He gets some gloves out of his pocket and opens out the tray.

"You'll be pleased to hear that your oxygen levels and air entry are both good enough for me to remove the chest tube." Connor informs her.

"Thank God!" Alexandria sighs with relief. "This thing is hella uncomfortable." Connor laughs slightly and starts the procedure.

Just as Connor is finishing the procedure, Alexandria's phone pings. She waits for him to be completely finished before picking her phone up from the table and reading the message she has just received.

**_All systems go._ **

Alexandria stares at the message. 

"Everything okay?" Connor asks. 

"Yeah." Alexandria smiles and nods as she puts her phone down. "Just some friends that are worried about me." She lies. "Do you have any idea of how much longer I'll be in here?" Connor looks at her with sympathy. "I'm not being discharged until I get the heart, am I?"

"Unfortunately, no." Connor shakes his head. "Your heart function is getting lower and lower each day and your lung function is also starting to decrease. Your kidney function is also not where it should be. It's nothing to cause concern just yet."

"So I'm getting worse?" Alexandria questions. Connor simply nods his head. 

"You're at risk of going into cardiac or respiratory arrest at any moment," Connor informs her, "we know how active you like to be and so if you go out there and do even the littlest bit of exercise, you're risking your life."

"Mom and dad are getting you to keep me here longer, aren't they?" Alexandria realises.

"We recommended it," Connor says as he sits on the edge of the bed, "you're not our youngest heart failure patient but you're definitely our most memorable." Alexandria smiles slightly. "Are your mom and dad coming by later." 

"Yeah." Alexandria nods. "My brother and sister are coming as well." 

"Before they get here, I want to talk to you about something," Connor starts, "since you'll be here for a while, we're going to move you onto our V.I.P suite at no extra cost. We know your mom can afford it but it's the least the we could do. We'll be moving you later on today. Your mom and dad already know, we wanted to ask them permission first." He looks at his watch. "I have to go and check up on some of my other patients. I'll come back and check on you later." 

"Okay." Alexandria nods. Connor stands up and walks out of the room. Alexandria picks up her phone and deletes the message that she received. 

Half an hour later, Alexandria is watching her TV when she hears someone knocking on the door frame. She looks over and sees Eva and Diego walking in. 

"Hey." Eva smiles.

"Hey." Alexandria smiles before turning the TV off. "I thought you guys weren't coming until later."

"We were passing by the hospital so we thought we'd come a bit early." Eva says as she and Diego sit down.

"Has Shaylynn and Dad been by yet?" Diego queries.

"Not yet." Alexandria shakes her head. "They should be here soon though." Eva then realises that Alexandria doesn't have the chest tube in anymore.

"Hey! You got the chest tube out!" Eva grins. 

"Yeah." Alexandria nods. "Doctor Rhodes took it out just over half an hour ago." She adds. 

"Did he say when you could get out of here." Diego queries.

"They don't want to release me until I've had the transplant," Alexandria responds, "my heart function is getting lower and lower and my lung function is starting to get lower and so is my kidney function. I'm getting worse. I assume Doctor Rhodes will speak to mom and dad before they come in here."

"What else is new?" Eva asks her sister.

"I'm being transferred up to the V.I.P suite later on since I could be here for a while," Alexandria says, "I'll have a bigger room, a comfier bed - it will make staying here more bearable. I could be here for months."

"Well, you need to hurry up and get better." Diego states. "Dad isn't sleeping. He's barely eating. This is far worse than all the other times you've been in the hospital." 

"We've been staying with him and Shaylynn," Eva says, "you know, to keep an eye on him and to just be there. It was Shaylynn's idea." She adds. "You need to get better, Lex." Eva tells her with tears in her eyes.

"Don't." Alexandria shakes her head. "Don't do that."

"Do what?" Eva asks confused.

"Don't start crying." Alexandria clarifies. "If you start crying, I'll start crying and I really don't have the energy for crying right now."

"You're my best friend, Lex. You're my baby sister. I know there's not that many months between us in age but you'll always be my baby sister." Eva says.

"I- erm- I need some fresh air." Diego chokes. He stands up and walks out of the room. 

"It's hard on him too." Eva tells Alexandria. "He looks up to us. To _you_." 

"I'm going to be fine." Alexandria reassures her. "I'm going to get a new heart. I'm going to get better. I'm a Dawson. Us Dawsons are stubborn bastards."

"Watch that language, young lady." Antonio points at Alexandria as he walks into the room with Shaylynn. He walks to the side of the bed and kisses the top of Alexandria's head as does Shaylynn. Antonio and Shaylynn both look around the room.

"Where's Diego?" Antonio asks confused.

"He went out for some fresh air." Eva replies.

"I think it's hard for him to see me this sick." Alexandria adds. After a couple of minutes, Diego returns to the room and sits back down.

"You okay?" Antonio asks his son.

"Yeah." Diego nods. "I just needed some air. It's just hard seeing Lex like this." Antonio and Shaylynn also sit down.

"I'm going to be okay, Diego." Alexandria reassures him. "I'm not giving up that easily." She turns her attention to Antonio and Shaylynn. "Has Dr Rhodes spoken to you two?" They both simply nod. "I don't know if they'll still let me have the day pass to the courthouse."

"Of course they will." Shaylynn nods. "Or else they'll have me to deal with." She adds with a little laugh.

"Seeing as you're all here, Shaylynn and I have to talk to you about something." Antonio starts, holding onto Shaylynn's hand. 

"What is it?" Alexandria questions. There are a few minutes of silence. "Dad?"

"I'm pregnant." Shaylynn smiles.

"Oh my God!" Alexandria exclaims. "That's amazing! Congratulations!" She leans forward and hugs both Shaylynn and Antonio. Eva and Diego also hug them.

"Congratulations!" Eva grins. Antonio notices that Alexandria's expression has changed.

"Lexi." Antonio holds his daughter's hand. "What's wrong?"

"What if this is a sign?" Alexandria asks.

"What do you mean?" Shaylynn asks confused.

"What if this is a sign that my time is coming? What if this is a sign that I _am_ going to die soon." Alexandria says as she wipes the tears that are starting to trickle down her cheeks. "What if this is God's way of saying 'I'm taking a child from you, so here, have another'?"

"Lex," Antonio starts as he tries to fight back tears, "even if you do go before this baby is born, he or she will never replace you. They will grow up knowing how brave their big sister was. They will grow up knowing how their big sister fought to the very end. They will grow up in a house where they will hear their big sister's name every day and see pictures of her all the time." By now, his attempts to fight back his tears have failed and tears are streaming down his face like a river. 

"You're going to fight this, Lexi." Shaylynn reassures her. "I know that that's what everyone is saying right now but you are a fighter."

"My kidneys are starting to fail. My respirations are starting to get slower because my lung function is low. Renal failure and a change in respiration rate are some of the signs that the rest of my body is starting to fail." Alexandria says. There are a few minutes of silence. "Enough of the morbid talk." Alexandria sighs. "Have you figured out a date for this courthouse wedding."

"We took the nearest date available." Shaylynn nods. 

"It will be in two weeks." Antonio adds. 

"So you've got to keep fighting." Eva states. "Don't give up."

~

A week has passed. Alexandria is now in a room in the V.I.P suite. Her renal function has drastically decreased and so Connor has decided to start her on dialysis. Her lung function has also been decreasing quite quickly and her heart function is getting worse every day. All of this is exhausting her and so she's been sleeping more often. Shaylynn is walking into her room with Voight just as Connor is hooking her up to the dialysis machine. 

"You're starting her on dialysis?" Shaylynn asks. Connor turns his head as he connects the final port. He turns around fully and walks up to Shaylynn and Voight.

"Her kidney function has gotten dangerously low." Connor explains. "In addition to that, we had to put her on more oxygen since her lung fuction isn't where we'd like it to be."

"Is she still going to be able to come to the courthouse?" Shaylynn queries.

"She's even sicker than when we first okayed Lexi going." Connor responds. "Now that she is on dialysis, her risk of infection is much higher, her decreasing lung and heart function is making the risk of cardiac arrest more likely." 

"So you're saying that if we take her out of this hospital, she could die?" Shaylynn asks. Connor simply nods.

"I've spoken to Ms Goodwin and Peter Kalmick, he's part of our legal team. We know that you want Lexi to see you and Antonio get married before she dies and so we've decided that going to the courthouse is completely up to Lexi, Antonio and yourself. We'll dose her up on anti-biotics, she'll have a portable pulse oximeter connected to her finger and she will obviously still be connected to the oxygen and fluids. Plus, I'll be there alongside Will and Ms Goodwin in case anything happens."

"Does Lexi know about this?" Voight asks.

"Mr Kalmick wanted to speak to Lexi about it, so yes, she does." Connor nods. 

"Let me guess, she's already said that she wants to go regardless?" Voight laughs gently.

"Yeah." Connor nods once more. "Is Antonio coming by so I can explain everything to him?"

"He's taking Eva and Diego out for the day to give them a distraction," Shaylynn responds, "I'll speak to him about it later."

"Thanks." Connor smiles. "I'll leave you two alone with her." He then walks away. A couple of minutes later, Shaylynn still hasn't moved from where she was talking to Shaylynn. 

"Shaylynn?" Voight nudges her. Shaylynn snaps out of her thoughts and looks at Voight. "We'll find her a new heart."

"Mark Lewis." Shaylynn states.

"What about him?" Voight asks.

"He's the reason that Lexi started having problems with her heart." She says. "If he hadn't had pulled her into that alley and-" She takes a deep breath to control her anger, "she wouldn't have had to stab him and he wouldn't have died making Lexi feel guilty. The person that caused the crash - if he hadn't had crashed into Lexi, then she wouldn't have had that added trauma to her heart."

"You don't have to worry about them anymore," Voight tells her, "you need to focus on Lexi, Antonio and that little life that you're growing." They both walk further into the room and sit down.

"She calls me mom." Shaylynn smiles.

"I know." Voight nods. "She never called Laura, 'mom". Voight informs her. "You mean the world to her. She looks up to you. You inspire her. You may not have given birth to her or known her for that long but you have been more of a mom to her than anyone else." They look at Alexandria sleeping. "She looks so peaceful." 

"She's strong but a person can only fight for so long and I think that she's just about ready to give up," Shaylynn says. She looks at Voight. "I came in yesterday whilst Antonio was getting some coffee and I caught Lexi writing her 'will'," Shaylynn says. "A will." She adds with a laugh. "A seventeen-year-old was writing a will!"

"What do you mean by a 'will'. She doesn't really have anything to hand down." Voight states confused. 

"It was more a letter of her wishes for us." Shaylynn clarifies. "So, for example, she wants Eva and Diego to look after dad, the baby and myself - make sure that we're okay, she wants Antonio to start listening to her favourite musicals to remind himself of her and she wants me to start up a charity for young people waiting for transplants - like one of those wish charities." 

"Lexi has always been an adult inside a teenagers body. She had to grow up super quick, as I'm sure you already know." Voight sighs. "She's going to be okay."

"I'm going to find her a heart." Shaylynn states.

"Shaylynn-" Voight starts to say.

"No!" Shaylynn says a bit too loud and Alexandria stirs. "I will call every damn hospital in the world if I have to." She adds quieter. "I am going to find a heart for my daughter." She stands up and walks out of the room. A couple of minutes later, Alexandria opens her eyes. 

"Hey." Voight smiles.

"Hey." Alexandria yawns.

"We didn't wake you up, did we?" Voight asks.

"No." Alexandria shakes her head. Alexandria sits herself up a bit more. She looks at the dialysis machine. 

"Doctor Rhodes was starting you on the dialysis when you were asleep." Voight tells her. "Did he tell you he was going to do it?"

"Yeah." Alexandria nods. "He spoke to me about it this morning." She adds. "So, I've been calling you Uncle Hank since I was what, 11 or 12?" 

"Yeah." Voight nods.

"When mom and dad get married, does that mean I have to call you Grandpa Hank?" Alexandria questions with a massive smile on her face.

"Uncle Hank will be fine." Voight laughs. "It's nice that you call Shaylynn, 'mom'."

"She legally will be my mom in a week." Alexandria shrugs. Shaylynn walks back into the room. "Hi, mom." She grins.

"You're awake." Shaylynn smiles. "I just stepped out to make a few calls." She sits back down. "We need to talk about the wedding." She says to Alexandria. "I've arranged for a hair and make-up stylist to come into the hospital to get you ready and Eva and I will come and help you get changed into your dress. It won't be much given that it will only be a small ceremony."

"Okay." Alexandria nods.

~

Another week has passed. It's the day of the courthouse wedding. Shaylynn and Eva, who are already ready for the wedding, are helping Alexandria into her dress. 

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Once she is in her dress, Shaylynn brings the stylist in. The stylist sets up her hair and make-up tools. 

"What kind of hairstyle do you want?" The stylist asks Alexandria.

"Just keep it down and curl it." Alexandria replies.

"What about your make-up?" The stylist questions.

"Keep it simple, but do some shimmery eyeshadow." Alexandria tells them. The stylist nods and gets to work. An hour and a half later and Alexandria is ready. She packs up her stuff and leaves just as Connor, Will and Ms Goodwin walk in. 

"You three look really nice." Sharon smiles.

"Thank you." Shaylynn smiles and nods.

"I know you know what's going to happen but I'm going to explain it to you anyway." Connor laughs. "You'll have to stay in a wheelchair. The most you can do is stand up. You'll have a nasal cannula giving you oxygen, a pulse oximeter on your finger and you'll have fluids being given through your IV." He explains.

"You'll also be transported via an ambulance." Will adds.

"The first sign that something is going to go wrong, we get you out to the ambulance and bring you back here." Ms Goodwin finishes.

"Okay." Alexandria nods. They help her into the wheelchair and get her ready for transport before taking her to the ambulance. Connor, Will and Ms Goodwin travel with her in the ambulance whilst Shaylynn and Eva follow in the car. 

Half an hour later, they are arriving at the courthouse. Antonio, Diego, Voight and the rest of Intelligence are standing behind them. Connor pushes her out of the ambulance and over to Antonio and Diego. Will, Sharon, Shaylynn and Eva also walk up to them. 

"You three look beautiful." Antonio grins. He kisses Eva and Alexandria on the top of the head and Shaylynn on the lips. "Let's go get married." They all walk into the courthouse and to the courtroom where a judge is waiting for them. Shaylynn and Antonio stand in front of the judge whilst everyone else gathers around them. 

"We are here to celebrate the wedding of Antonio Dawson and Shaylynn Voight. If anyone has a reason that they should not be joined in matrimony, speak now or forever hold your peace." The judge begins. There is silence. "Marriage is a promise between two people who love, honour and trust each other and who wish to spend the rest of their lives together." He continues. "Please take each other's hands." They both face each other and hold hands. "Antonio, repeat after me. Shaylynn, I take you as you are, loving who you are now and who you are yet to become."

"Shaylynn, I take you as you are, loving who you are now and who you are yet to become." Antonio repeats.

"I promise from this day forward, to be grateful for our love and our life, to be generous with my time, my energy and my affection, to be patient with you and with myself." The judge continues.

"I promise from this day forward, to be grateful for our love and our life, to be generous with my time, my energy and my affection, to be patient with you and with myself." Antonio says.

"To fill our life with adventure and our home with laughter, to encourage you to grow as an individual, and inspire you to do so." The judge states.

"To fill our life with adventure and our home with laughter, to encourage you to grow as an individual, and inspire you to do so." Antonio repeats.

"To love you completely. These things I pledge before you, our friends and our family." The judge finishes.

"To love you completely. These things I pledge before you, our friends and our family." Antonio completes the vow.

"Shaylynn, repeat after me." The judge turns to Shaylynn. She repeats the exact same thing that Antonio did. "Antonio, do you take Shaylynn to be your wife?" The judge asks Antonio. 

"I do." Antonio nods. 

"Shaylynn, do you take Antonio to be your husband?" The judge asks Shaylynn.

"I do." Shaylynn smiles.

"Do we have the rings?" Alexandria questions. Diego steps forwards and hands the rings to Antonio and Shaylynn. 

"The rings are a reminder of your promises to one another." The judge states. "Antonio, as you place the ring on Shaylynn's finger, repeat after me." Antonio gets ready to place the ring on Shaylynn's finger. "This ring symbolizes my love for you and the commitments we made today." 

"This ring symbolizes my love for you and the commitments we made today." Antonio smiles as he slides the ring on Shaylynn's finger.

"Shaylynn." The judge nods at sh at Shaylynn. 

"This ring symbolizes my love for you and the commitments we made today." Shaylynn grins sliding the ring on Antonio's finger. 

"In the presence of your family and friends, you have declared your love and commitment for one another." The judge grins. "By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now share your first kiss as a married couple." Antonio and Shaylynn kiss and everyone claps. They both walk over to Alexandria, Eva and Diego. Alexandria slowly stands up with Connor and Will supporting her. 

"Congratulations." Alexandria smiles breathlessly. Antonio hugs her followed by Shaylynn. 

"Lexi, I'm going to turn your oxygen up." Connor tells her. He kneels down and turns the oxygen tank attached to the wheelchair all the way up. He stands back up. "We should think about getting you back to the hospital." The colour in Alexandria's fades quickly so that she goes very pale.

"Lexi?" Antonio asks concerned. "Are you okay?" Alexandria starts to fall down. Antonio and Shaylynn catch her and sit her down in the wheelchair. Will checks for a pulse.

"No pulse." Will shakes his head. "Let's get her on the floor." Will, Ms Goodwin and Connor lie Alexandria on the floor and Connor immediately starts chest compressions. "Jay, go out to the ambulance and tell the medics to bring the gurney and kit." He tells his brother. Jay nods and does as he's told.

~

15 minutes later, the paramedics wheel Alexandria, who has been intubated, into the ED. Connor is kneeling on the gurney still doing chest compressions. April runs over to them. 

"Lexi Dawson, 17. She's been in v-fib for over 15 minutes. Shocks have been ineffective. She's in heart failure, kidney failure and respiratory failure. Currently on the transplant list for a heart and is currently undergoing dialysis." Connor does the handover and relays her vital signs. They wheel her into a room, Connor climbs off the gurney and they transfer her over to the bed. "Let's shock again." April charges the defibrillator. "Come one, Lexi. You don't get to die on us." He looks at April who nods. "Clear." Everyone stand back.

"Shocking." April says as she presses the button on the defibrillator. The machine delivers the shock causing Alexandria's body to rise and fall. After a minute, there's a slow beeping. "Sinus bradycardia." April nods. "She's back."

"Barely." Connor sighs. He then walks out to the waiting room where Intelligence, Antonio, Shaylynn, Eva and Diego are waiting. Laura has also joined them to support Eva and Diego. As soon as Antonio sees Connor. he walks up to him with Shaylynn. "We resuscitated Lexi." Antonio and Shaylynn sigh with relief. "However, she has deteriorated rather quickly." He adds. "She doesn't have a year anymore. She has days. She needs a new heart in the next few days or she _will_ die."


End file.
